[Coral-List] Buck Island Sea Turtle Research Program Research Assistant Vacancy Announcement 2008
Ian_Lundgren at nps.gov
Ian_Lundgren at nps.gov
Fri Feb 22 10:28:19 EST 2008
Hello all,
Thank you for your patience. I give up on savvy file-hosting sites.
Consider this a failed experiment. Regardless, here is the complete
announcement:
Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM), located on the island of
St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, is seeking applicants for the position
of Sea Turtle Research Assistant (RA) to conduct sea turtle research
and monitoring. This will be the 21^st year of the Buck Island Sea
Turtle Research Program (BISTRP), a long-term monitoring, research and
conservation project supported by the National Park Service (NPS),
Buck Island Reef National Monument. BIRNM is a nesting beach for
hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), green (Chelonia mydas),
leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), and loggerhead (Caretta caretta)
sea turtles.
RAs must be available from June through October (applicant should
state availability in their cover letter) and are expected to stay the
length of the project (specific dates will be identified in phone
interviews). This is a highly competitive project that is physically
and mentally intense, aimed at individuals who want to make
ecology/resource management their career. RAs must work equally
effectively as a team and alone.
RAs will provide assistance to the NPS staff in the collection and
processing of field data. Buck Island's nesting beaches will be
monitored 7 days/week sundown to sunup, by a joint team of NPS staff
and RAs. Access to the island is by boat only, where there are minimal
facilities. All nesting turtles will be encountered; biometric data
will be collected on turtles, physical data will be collected on nest
locations, and animals will be tagged (inconel and PIT). Nests will
be excavated to determine hatch success. Imperiled nests will be
relocated as part of graduate thesis research to determine optimal
relocation conditions. As part of this graduate work RAs will collect
soil samples, deploy temperature loggers, take water related
measurements, and participate in processing histological samples.
Each RA will be scheduled for up to 5 nights on the beach, or 4 nights
and1 day of lab/office work (data entry and sample processing), on a
dynamic schedule. RAs will be responsible for field equipment care and
maintenance. RAs are also responsible for weekly daytime monitoring of
beaches at The Buccaneer Hotel, their residence, recording activities
using GPS. RAs will also conduct outreach to hotel guests. RAs will
write a report at season's end summarizing turtle nesting activities
at The Buccaneer Hotel.
RAs will receive meals and lodging from The Buccaneer Hotel,
reimbursement for incidentals from the NPS ($35/week), and an
invaluable experience learning research techniques and encountering
threatened and endangered sea turtles. Potentially, reimbursement for
travel may become available; however applicants must expect that this
will not happen. RAs need to seriously consider their finances before
applying to these openings.
Deadline for application: 5 March 2008, 11:59pm
To apply, send a cover letter stating your interest in and qualifications for t
he project, a resume summarizing your experience, and contact information for t
hree references to the email address below. Email is preferred, but postal mail
/fax is accepted.
If selected for interview you will be contacted by the end of March, no need t
o follow up with a phone call.
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