Job Reference Number:UOS012908
A Research Associate, fixed term, full time position is open at the Faculty of Science, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield, UK. Salary £29,847 per annum. Deadline: 19th February 2016.
A position has arisen for a Research Associate to conduct sustained field observations of breeding guillemots. The purpose of the research is to identify individual birds by their colour rings and to identify their breeding locations; to accurately establish when a sample of 100 pairs lay, hatch and fledge their chicks to obtain reliable data on timing of breeding and breeding success.
In addition, you will undertake observations during the chick-rearing phase, to estimate chick-feeding rates and to identify fish prey. You will meanwhile, contribute to the identification of immature guillemots in clubs, from their colour ring combinations to estimate immature survival and dispersal.
This varied fieldwork will require a number of hours in the field under all weather conditions and making observations using a telescope. Data collected each day are entered into a relational database, where it will be later extracted to document the progress of the breeding season (data are also extracted for subsequent survival analyses). By the end of the field season, you will have produced a comprehensive quantitative report summarizing the 2016 breeding season and comparing it with previous seasons, and assessing the effects of recent environmental conditions on different population parameters.
A PhD or equivalent experience in seabird ecology is essential.