The Hobson Lab at the University of Cincinnati is recruiting 1-2 field assistants to collect data and run social experiments with captive groups of Monk Parakeets in large outdoor flight pens.
Dates
Fieldwork will start in the beginning of Feb 2022 and end by early June. Field assistants should be available for the whole field season (in some rare cases, we may be able to make exceptions).
Duties of field assistants
Duties will involve catching and handling captive parakeets, long days of social observation and data collection on social interactions, running social experiments, and processing data. While this is a captive population, the flight pen is outdoors, so field assistants will need to be able to deal with weather, the possibility of bugs/snakes, and long days outdoors. The field assistants will work under the guidance and supervision of Hobson Lab Postdoctoral Researcher Annemarie van der Marel, with additional training and support from Dr. Hobson and our three PhD students, Claire O’Connell, Xavier Francis, and Chelsea Carminito. Dr. van der Marel will lead the field crew and will be in residence for the first part of the field season, after which the team will be led by Claire, Xavier, and Chelsea. Field assistants will be considered “independent contractors” and will not have any association with the University of Cincinnati.
Qualifications
I am searching for reliable, hard-working field assistants that are capable of working both independently and in teams. The basic qualifications are an interest in social interactions, keen observational skills, and the patience and resourcefulness to thrive in field conditions. Field assistants should be able to sit still for long periods of time, quietly and attentively observing behavior, be able to reliably record high quality data, and to work well as part of the team. Our birds are color-marked so field assistants must be able to differentiate between red, green, blue, etc. Animal handling experience (especially handling birds, and any mist-netting/banding experience) is desired, but people without these skills can be trained. All field assistants must complete an online CITI training course prior to starting work and provide documentation of course completion. Due to university regulations covering these hires, applicants need to be US citizens.
People interested in research questions about social structure, information, recognition, cognition, and memory are particularly encouraged to apply, as are people who may be interested in eventually joining the Hobson Lab. Field assistants may be able to develop side projects that can be completed along the main project aims and function as a post-bac researcher.
Location
Gainesville, Florida
Compensation
- Reimbursement of up to $500 for travel costs
- Shared housing for crew members
- Monthly stipend = $750-1000 per month (salary based on past experience)
Application instructions
People interested in the field assistant positions should enter their information into this form: https://forms.gle/Rj5iLNuL71UeAATT8.
Applicants should be prepared to answer questions about their interest in the project, their relevant previous experiences, upload a current CV in pdf form, and enter the names of 2-3 references who will be contacted for finalists.
** Highly qualified candidates will be contacted on a rolling basis as soon as the position is advertised **
