URGENT: Seeking assistants for research on bottlenose dolphins in Bunbury, Western Australia.
Dates: End of January to the end of the project in early March. Project title: South West Marine Research Program long term monitoring project. Institution: Cetacean Research Unit, Murdoch University - www.mucru.org Overview: I am seeking experienced field assistants to assist with boat-based photo-ID and behaviour analysis in south-west Australia. This is a long term project, 7 years so far, with the current phase extending into 2014. A commitment to the full last period of the project is essential. The South West Marine Research Program is a long-term, multifaceted project on the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins of South West Australia. This program is based in Bunbury (south of Perth) and is a collaboration between Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit and numerous industry and non-profit partners. The research, of PhD and masters students, focuses on dolphin population dynamics, abundance, social structure and behaviour, habitat use, conservation genetics and foraging ecology. Long-term data will be collected and used to investigate population dynamics and habitat use, in order to aid in future conservation and management efforts. Benthic habitat mapping and photo identification fieldwork is conducted from Busselton to Binningyup within a 540km2 area consisting of coastal beaches, inshore bays, estuarine inlets and a river. http://mucru.org/research-projects/south-west-marine-researchprogram/ This is an opportunity to gain experience in field techniques for small cetacean research, while contributing to a project with a high conservation and management value. Location: Bunbury is a small city, approx. 2 hours South of Perth. The project will be based in the Dolphin Discovery Centre, where Murdoch have office facilities. Duties: Field work will involve searching for dolphins, driving the boat, taking photos, making and recording field observations, equipment cleaning and basic maintenance. Fieldwork is highly weather dependent and will vary between weekdays and weekends. When weather permits days on the water could be long and on consecutive days. There will be a fair amount of office work involved including data entry, fin matching and project organisation. Computer programs used for data are: FinBase, ACDSee, Logger, Microsoft Access, Excel and Word. Prerequisites: Enrolled in or completed a degree in biology, marine science, animal behaviour or a related field. Previous field experience with wildlife (field data collection, photo identification, boat handling skills). Experience with research on small cetaceans is essential. Be enthusiastic, team oriented and have a positive attitude as well as a genuine interest in wildlife science. Expenses: Unfortunately, we are unable to provide monetary compensation or living provisions and research assistants will be responsible for their own travel to Western Australia and living expenses. Please note, the Bunbury backpackers provide good discounts for assistants of the Dolphin Discovery Centre. If you are interested in volunteering, please send a CV, a brief covering letter outlining your relevant experience, and contact details of two relevant referees to randalcouni...@gmail.com by Friday 17th January 2014. Randal Counihan randalcouni...@gmail.com Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit (MUCRU) School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch WA 6150
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