Volunteers needed to help with PhD fieldwork on hibernation behaviour in hazel dormice
Position description and duties
Part-time field assistants are required to help with PhD fieldwork from January 2020 to April 2020.
The fieldwork is focusing on the effects of weather on hibernation
behaviour in hazel dormice, and will be conducted at Bradfield Woods in
Suffolk and
either Bontuchel, near Ruthin in North-west Wales, or the Wyre Forest,
near Kidderminster. A rough timeline is as follows:
January – 2 weeks in the field, 1 week spent at each site. The majority
of the time will be spent conducting systematic searches for hazel
dormouse hibernation nests with PIT-tag scanning equipment (training
will be provided). When nests are found they will
be marked on a GPS, and camera traps and environmental dataloggers will
be deployed at the site.
February to April – 1 week in the field per month, the week being split
between sites. Hibernation sites will be revisited and nest occupation
checked, and camera trap videos will be downloaded. If dormice are found
to have left the nest, systematic searching
of the surrounding area will be undertaken to relocate the individual,
and the camera trap will be moved to the new site.
Fieldwork will take roughly the same structure in the season 2020-2021,
but we do not need applicants to commit to a second season at this
point.
Skills required
No specific skills are required as full training will be provided.
Experience with and/or interest in the following is desirable: camera
trapping, behavioural ecology, fieldwork, hibernation, working with
protected species. Applicants should be prepared to
spend most of the day outdoors, in potentially bad weather. Full
waterproofs and waterproof footwear are essential. A good level of
physical fitness is required, as one of the sites is mostly on a slope,
and we will likely be working most of the daylight hours.
An ability to stay upbeat and positive in the face of rain and
tiredness is essential! A driving licence is highly desirable, but not
essential.
Priority will be given to applicants able to commit to full sessions
(i.e. a week) per month; however, if you are not able to commit to this,
please still get in touch if interested. The more months an applicant
can commit to, the better, but it is not a pre-requisite
to commit to all months to apply.
Please bear in mind that the fieldwork methods are designed to be as
non-invasive as possible, so you may not actually see a hazel dormouse
(but hopefully some on camera trap videos!).
Terms of the role
This is an unpaid role but some funding has been provided by the
People’s Trust for Endangered Species to contribute to field assistants’
travel, accommodation and subsistence costs. There may be opportunities
for interested assistants to conduct their own
research projects alongside the main project (within the constraints of
the main project) – feel free to contact us if you have any ideas.
Contact
Please contact us on
rachel.findlay-robinson@uni.cumbria.ac.uk (PhD student) or
davina.hill@glagow.ac.uk
(PI) with the subject “Field assistant” if you are interested in this
position, outlining why you are interested and what you could bring to
the project.