POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT
Position Title: Coordinator, Wildlife
Phenology Program, The Wildlife Society
Location: Tucson, AZ
About The Wildlife Society:
The Wildlife Society (www.wildlife.org) is an
international, membership organization dedicated
to excellence in wildlife stewardship through
science and education. Since 1937, TWS has
worked to advance the science and practice of
wildlife management and conservation, promote
continuing education of wildlife professionals,
and advocate for science-based wildlife
policy. These activities further the Societys
mission to represent and serve wildlife
professionals the scientists, technicians, and
practitioners actively working to manage,
conserve, protect, and study wildlife and their
habitats worldwide. The Wildlife Society
currently has nearly 8,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and worldwide.
General Qualifications:
The Wildlife Society (TWS) seeks an individual
with knowledge and/or training in the wildlife
profession and with exceptional communication and
interpersonal skills that can serve as an
effective planner, facilitator and ambassador for
a new Wildlife Phenology Program. This is a
temporary two-year position, which has the
possibility of transforming into a longer-term
position, depending on the programs success.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The WPP Coordinator, under the direct supervision
of the TWS Executive Director/CEO, provides
leadership and management oversight for a new
Wildlife Phenology Program being developed by TWS
in partnership with the USA-National Phenology
Network (NPN). The USA-NPN
(<http://www.usanpn.org/>www.usanpn.org) is a
relatively new partnership among NGOs, academia,
citizen volunteers, federal agencies, and other
organizations. The goal and mission of the
USA-NPN is to establish a nationwide network of
phenological observations of plants and animals
to understand better how natural ecological
systems respond to changing environments through
changes in phenology, and to aid the development
and implementation of facilities and tools
required for human adaptation to future climate
conditions. This effort employs the
observational skills of scientists, managers, the
public and other stakeholders to document
dynamics aspects of plant and animal biology that
are affected by seasonal changes, such as foliage
emergence, fruit production, migration and
reproduction. Such long-term monitoring studies
have taken on new importance as our nation and
the world begin to track and attempt to adapt to
the pervasive impacts of global climate change.
Responsibilities include:
· Scope, develop and implement a wildlife
phenology program to parallel and interface the
plant phenology program of the USA-NPN.
· Develop and facilitate workshops and working
groups consisting of scientists, stakeholders and
resource managers to identify and justify
wildlife species (including insect, birds,
amphibians, mammals, reptiles, fishes) broadly
distributed across the US that may serve as
important phenological indicators of
environmental change, and that can be monitored
within the context of a national phenology network.
· Build partnerships and develop public interest in the program.
· Identify projects that can be completed readily
to demonstrate use of phenology end products and demonstrate early successes.
· Assist in the development of a schema for
linking plant and animal phenology data.
· Develop data management/database requirements
for the animal phenology program, and coordinate
with the USA-NPN working group for
cyber-infrastructure to develop and implement
tools to input, download and visualize data.
· Identify and develop opportunities for
education, outreach and citizen science
involvement in the study and understanding of animal phenology.
· Seek possible sources of future support for the
WPP in collaboration with USA-NPN and TWS.
Qualifications:
Excellent communication skills required, both
verbal and written. Ability to communicate
effectively with both scientists and
non-scientists critical. Broad understanding of
effects of environmental variation or climate
change on natural ecological systems; solid
understanding of processes controlling animal
populations and communities; understanding of
plant-animal interactions; experience with animal
or plant phenology preferred (e.g., empirical or
modeling research on contemporary or legacy
datasets); experience with meeting facilitation
preferred. The emphasis of this program is on
terrestrial systems, but some knowledge of
aquatic/marine systems would also be helpful.
Education: Masters or doctoral
degree in wildlife biology or ecology, or at
least 4 years equivalent experience in wildlife
management, ecology or related disciplines.
Salary: High 40s-low 50s, depending
on educational background and experience.
Benefits: Package includes health
insurance, annual and sick leave, and paid holidays.
Application process: Qualified candidates should
submit a resume and letter of interest to:
Janine (Yanin) Walker
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] (email preferred)
Operations Manager
The Wildlife Society
5410 Grosvenor Lane
Bethesda, MD 20814
Application deadline: 15 July 2008
Anticipated starting date: 1 August 2008
