mercredi 5 juin 2019

Field assistant or master student with possibility of thesis on elaborate courtship displays in the spotted bowerbird at Taunton National Park, Queensland.


We are looking for a field assistant or master student to join our fieldwork at Taunton National Park (Scientific) in the outback of central Queensland. The project is run by the University of Veterinary Medicine of Vienna and is focused on the elaborate courtship displays of the spotted bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus maculatus), with a particular focus on the behaviour of subadult males. 
Duration: 2 or 3 months between September and November 2019.
Activities: the candidate is expected to help with data collection under the supervision of a PhD student. The main activities include: mist-net catching, color banding and outfitting the bowerbirds with back-pack mounted GPS loggers; taking blood samples; installing camera traps to videotape the maintaining and display behaviour of the birds at the bower; retrieving the data from both camera traps and GPS loggers driving relatively long distances across the national park. After a training of approximately one month, the candidate will be required to work on its own on the camera traps and to collect the GPS data for a duration of 20/25 days.
Costs: the expenses for travel and accommodation are fully covered by the project; the expenses for food and personal equipment will have to be covered by the candidate.
Accommodation and field site: the national park is located 15 km away from the nearest village. The ranger station, located approximately in the geographical centre of the National Park, is equipped with kitchen, pre-built rooms with beds and running water. Due to occasional presence of extra park staff, indoor rooms are not permanently available and therefore tents need to be conveniently installed.
Requirements: driving license is required in order to drive around the national park and buy grocery using the utility vehicle of the project; the ability to adapt to a remote field location with little human contact and potential dangers (venomous snakes, bushfires); previous long-term experiences in tropical locations are preferred, as well as bird-handling skills.

In case of interest, please contact and send a brief CV to: Giovanni Spezie; giovanni.spezie@vetmeduni.ac.at