Summer Student - Biodiversity Monitoring

                                                                                                           
Competition # : 42409 
Department: Natural Resources & Renewables
Location: KENTVILLE
Type of Employment: Student
Union Status:
Exclusion - Non Union - NSPG 
Closing Date: 05-Apr-24  
(
Applications are accepted until 11:59 PM Atlantic Time)
About Us
Nova Scotia is rich in natural resources – including biodiversity, forests, provincial parks and the land we manage. The Department of Lands and Forestry is responsible for the development, management, conservation and protection of forest, parks and wildlife resources and the administration of the province's Crown land. Together we are working with Nova Scotians to build a better future through sustainable natural resource management as we all benefit from the natural health and wealth of the province. 
As part of the Renewable Resources branch, you will be contributing to programs that develop and conduct research related to biodiversity and ecosystem management practices, develop strategies for sustainable management of Nova Scotia’s renewable natural resources, and interact with diverse organizations in the conservation, recreation and industrial sectors. The Wildlife division does this by monitoring populations of harvested and species-at-risk, maintaining digital and spatial (GIS) databases of occurrence and distribution of species and ecosystems, and developing species and ecosystem management tools for Integrated Resource Management through ongoing research.
About Our Opportunity
The successful applicant will work alongside DNRR biologists to pilot a wildlife monitoring program in the boreal forest of Cape Breton. Duties will include:
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-Organizing field equipment, programming monitoring devices and preparing data collection forms.
-Deploying camera traps and autonomous recording devices (ARUs) to collect data on terrestrial mammals and songbirds for the wildlife monitoring program. Field work will take place in the Cape Breton Highlands in late May and early June.
-Coordinating a team of citizen scientists who will be supporting the wildlife monitoring program.
-Assisting with a field experiment to quantify ARU detection distances for various songbird species. Field work will take place near Kentville in June and July.
-Contributing to data entry and management.
-Summarizing information on the survey effort and citizen scientist participation in the wildlife monitoring program.
Depending on the interests of the successful applicant, there is also space to conduct a personal project. Some potential projects include (a) evaluating the success of the citizen scientist program and making recommendations on how this program could be expanded effectively in the future, or (b) investigating how habitat and call characteristics (e.g., frequency, pitch) impact birdsong detectability using ARUs.
Qualifications and Experience
The ideal candidate will be working towards or have completed a Bachelor of Science and working on a higher degree in a related field ((Biology, Environmental Science, etc)  Preference will be for people with field experience and those working towards MSc.
Additional Information
This Summer Student opportunity is anticipated  to be from May 1, 2024 - August 30, 2024.  The successful candidate must be returning to school in the fall in order to be qualified for a Summer Student position.
A Valid N.S. Class 5 Driver’s License or equivalent is required.  Your must be willing to work in remote environments.
     
Salary Range:  $19.70 - $29.11 Hourly   
Employment Equity Statement:
Our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative, at all job levels, of the citizens we serve.  The Government of Nova Scotia has an Employment Equity Policy, and we welcome applications from Indigenous People, African Nova Scotians and Other Racially Visible Persons, Persons with Disabilities and Women in occupations or positions where they are under-represented.  If you are a member of one of these equity groups, you are encouraged to self-identify on your electronic application.
Current government employees may access this posting through the link below:
 
PLEASE NOTE: Candidates will not be considered for an interview if applications are incomplete or are missing information. 
Offer of employment is conditional upon the completion of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials, the results of which must be satisfactory to the employer. We thank all applicants for the interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. All questions and concerns may be directed to Competitionsnovascotia.ca.