Career Opportunities
LandScope America Research Fellows
- Position Title: LandScope America Research Fellows
- Supervisor: Kyle Copas, Editor LandScope America (or designee)
- Location: Arlington, Virginia, two miles from downtown Washington, D.C. The office is Metro-accessible (two blocks from Rosslyn Metro) and bike-accessible (just off the Mount Vernon trail).
- Timing: Research fellows will be selected on a rolling basis throughout 2010, depending on project need and availability of qualified applicants. Fellowship duration can vary, but will be a minimum of three months.
About Us
NatureServe, a nonprofit conservation science and technology organization, provides the scientific basis for effective conservation action. With nearly 100 staff and an international network of over 80 natural heritage programs across the United States, Canada, and Latin America, we are the leading source of information on rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems. We provide information and tools to conservation groups, government agencies, corporations, academia, and the public to help them make informed decisions about managing our natural resources. NatureServe holds a unique niche, by providing scientifically sound guidance for major conservation investments across the hemisphere.
LandScope America — a collaborative project of NatureServe and the National Geographic Society — is a new online conservation and educational resource for the land-protection community and the public. Developed with the assistance of more than 140 partner organizations in the public and private sectors, LandScope America (www.landscope.org) is designed to increase the pace and effectiveness of conservation action and investment throughout the United States.
LandScope America brings together maps, data and information about our environment from many sources and presents them to the public in dynamic and accessible formats. This comprehensive, user-friendly website incorporates interactive, data-rich maps portraying conservation priorities with compelling photos, video, and stories about people and places.
Position Duties and Responsibilities
NatureServe seeks one or more qualified research fellows to advance the breadth and depth of content on the LandScope America website for a specific theme. The research fellow will join the LandScope America team and will be exposed to the wide range of responsibilities involved in launching and maintaining a project of this magnitude, including communications and outreach, partnership building, data acquisition and analysis, research and writing, and editing material for a web audience. The research fellow will be responsible for one independent project over the course of the fellowship that will apply his/her skills in conservation science, spatial data analysis and multimedia production to develop new content for publication on the LandScope America website.
The fellow will research, acquire and analyze conservation data to develop products that will provide new and unique material for the LandScope America website. The fellow will work with the project team to select a topic of interest that under one of the themes of the LandScope America website. Currently, high priority research areas needing further development include:
- Working lands (farms, forests, ranches)
- Climate change
- Ecosystem services
- Corridors and connectivity
See http://www.landscope.org/focus/understand/bird_conservation/ for an example of a recently completed and published research project.
Typical tasks:
- Conduct literature and web research on relevant topics
- Cultivate potential partners, such as conservation groups and natural resource agencies
- Identify, acquire and analyze relevant spatial data sets
- Research, acquire, write, and edit case studies and other editorial materials
Expected products will be tailored to the fellow???s chosen research area and may include:
- Map products in GIS format for use in the website???s interactive map viewer or in static image format for use as related editorial content
- Written case studies, narrative stories, or research reports or analyses about relevant land and water conservation topics
- Multimedia products (photo, video, audio) suitable for stand-alone presentation or to enhance related written material
Qualifications
- Work in progress (or completed) towards a graduate degree in environmental studies or a related field
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks with limited supervision
- Well-organized, with exceptional attention to detail required in all products
- Intermediate proficiency with ArcGIS (ability to create and complete a GIS project with minimal oversight)
- Ability to translate scientific writing into compelling text for web consumption
- Proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite, i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- Interest in multimedia storytelling, experience with photography, audio, and video content, and use of multimedia software tools is a plus, though not required
- Personal commitment to and belief in conservation of the environment and land protection
How to Apply:
Please send resume and cover letter to:
- Attn: Job #LS210
- NatureServe
- 1101 Wilson Blvd., 15th Floor
- Arlington, VA 22209
- E-mail: jobs@natureserve.org (Please refer to Job# in the subject line)
For more information about this position please contact:
- Kyle Copas
- Acting Director of Marketing and Communications
- NatureServe
- 1101 Wilson Blvd., 15th Floor
For more information about NatureServe, go to www.natureserve.org