Volunteer
Field Assistant Positions
Role
description
The Mandrillus Project is a
non-profit organisation aiming at longitudinally studying wild mandrills in Southern
Gabon. We are currently recruiting Volunteer Field Assistants for our 2018-2019
field season. These positions combine practical research with training and are
entirely field-based. The volunteers are trained by and work alongside local
field assistants, field managers, sometimes students and researchers,
contributing to the research activities of the Mandrillus Project. Following
established protocols, the fieldwork will primarily involve daily follows of a
natural population of mandrills on foot, collecting data on the behaviour of
individually recognisable animals, together with the collection of non-invasive
measurements and samples. Please visit the website of the project to get an
idea of the scientific programs that are currently running
(http://www.projetmandrillus.com/research-and-conservation.html).
Positions
available
Two Volunteer Field Assistant
positions are currently available, each running for six months from early-mid
September to late February / mid March.
What we
cover
Once the volunteers arrive in the
field site, the Mandrillus Project covers all their work-related costs,
including accommodation (private equipped room with air-con and private
bathroom, shared kitchen) and a stipend for meals (about 200€/month). The
association will also cover the costs of the volunteers’ travel insurance. On
the successful completion of fieldwork, we also contribute a minimum of 150€
towards the cost of the volunteers’ travel fees.
Who are we
looking for?
These positions are open to
all with an interest in animal behaviour
and ecology. We are particularly keen to hear from applicants who:
- Are friendly, easy-going
people, happy to live in small team at a remote field site
- Are strongly motivated,
reliable, honest and committed
- Have good levels of
physical fitness and stamina - you will be following the mandrills on foot
several hours a day, 6 days per week, over mountainous terrain, in heat
- Show good initiative,
with a willingness to learn and show attention to detail
- French is a plus but not
eliminatory
What do
volunteers get out of it?
- An amazing opportunity to
share the lives of wild mandrills in an equatorial forest landscape
- An opportunity to learn
new skills and gain experience, especially those relevant to research in behaviour
and ecology
- An opportunity to be
involved in a long-term project on African wildlife, hosted by an international
research institution
- An opportunity to use
this field experience with the Mandrillus Project as a stepping stone on
to future Masters and PhD degree courses
- Experience a new culture
and share knowledge with local assistants
Further
information
For further details about
these positions, including the work involved, our living conditions in the
field, preparations prior to departure, and what to bring with you, please see
below (and additional information will be provided to successful candidates).
How to apply
If you would like to apply, please
prepare a CV and a detailed covering letter that should explain why you would
like to work on the project. The CV should include the names of two referees
with e-mail contact details.
Applications must be sent at marie.charpentier@umontpellier.fr by 5pm
Tuesday 19 June 2018. We will notify successfully shortlisted candidates
until Wednesday 20 June, and interviews will be held in Montpellier (for local
successful candidates) or by skype Friday 22 June. Applicants should
keep this date free for interview, since no other dates will be available. Telephone/skype
interviews will be possible for overseas applicants.
* * * * * *
The Study
Site
Weather
Gabon has an Equatorial
climate with little seasonality. Precipitations are important, almost every day
from October to May, and days may be hot (up to 30°C), although the Lekedi Park
benefits from a cooler weather because of its altitude (600m). The long dry
season, from June to September, is characterized by cool weather (temperatures
can fall below 18°C) with no precipitation.
Landscape
The Lekedi Park is
characterized by a mix of savannas and gallery forests interspersed with rivers
and riverbeds. Equatorial Marantaceae forests are found in the area.
Wildlife
The Lekedi park is home to a
variety of wildlife including forest buffalos, several Apes (chimpazees,
gorillas) and other primates (cephus, nictitans) and, of course, mandrills!
Predators include, occasionally, leopards (but don’t expect any encounter with
them!). Birds and reptiles also abound.
Location
The Lekedi park is located in
Southern Gabon. It is only a 1.5 hour drive from Moanda, the nearest town that
comprises hotels, petrol stations, banks, basic shops and markets.
Working
Conditions
Daily and weekly work schedules
Data collection requires full-day
follows of the study group. This ensures that the location of the sleeping sites
used by the mandrills each night is known, which in turn facilitates their
pick-up by observers early the next morning. If the day begins late, or ends
early, the mandrills can be lost and may take several days to relocate. Each
day, seven days a week, two teams (at least two persons) alternate: the morning
team leaves the camp at 5.45am and come back around 1-2pm while the afternoon
team starts at noon and come back at 6-6.30pm. A driver brings every day the
two teams by car the closest to the mandrills. When mandrills are located with
high confidence, the team enters into the forest and starts following the
mandrills. Field assistants work 6 half-days per week and benefit from one day
off per week during the entire stay.
Working with mandrills in the Lekedi
landscape
Observers and local field
assistants spend half the day on foot in the company of the mandrills in the
forest. Forested environments may be physically demanding because there are
often closed and hilly. Field team members travel (with small backpacks) up to 5-8km
a day, ascending and descending small hills and slippery, muddy, slopes as they
follow the mandrills. The mandrills are habituated to the presence of human
observers, allowing data to be collected from close proximity without causing
disturbance, but observers must always act carefully and responsibly when in
the company of these wild animals. Data collection is largely conducted with
handheld computers. Faecal and urine samples are also collected on a routine
basis. On-site supervision and detailed guidelines will be provided describing
how to work with the mandrills in the forest.
Living
Conditions
Accommodation
The fully-furnished,
air-conditioned rooms are located in a small research complex where the lab and
offices are. It is located at the entrance of the park near other houses: the
house of the managers of the project, the one of the director of the park and
another one for the vet of the park.
Food
Field team members prepare
their own food in the communal, fully-furnished kitchen located in the research
complex. Once every two weeks, the manager brings the field team members to
Moanda to buy food and supplies.
Telephone and e-mail
The Project has access to wi-fi
in the park available to volunteers (skype or facebook are, however, not
allowed as is movie download). The project covers the costs of the wi-fi
service. Field team members are advised to buy a local mobile phone chip when
they arrive in Libreville or in Moanda.
Visitors and vacation
Volunteers cannot make
arrangements to receive visitors during their stay at the Project (including
local visitors). In addition, tourists are not allowed to visit the study group
of mandrills. For vacations, volunteers need to plan to stay additional weeks
following their 6-month commitment to the project. In these cases, a visa
extension will be needed. Volunteers need to make their own arrangements.