State of the Thames Conservation Project Intern (Part-Time / 12 Months Fixed-Term Contract)

The Indicators and Assessments Unit at the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology and the ZSL’s Marine and Freshwater Conservation Programme are offering an excellent opportunity to gain experience with one of the UK’s leading conservation research organisations. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to join the group assisting with a major project assessing the status of the river Thames.The Indicators and Assessments Unit (IAU) has been running biodiversity indicator development for a number of years, producing both the Sampled Red List Index (SRLI), an indicator based on extinction risk, and the Living Planet Index (LPI), an indicator utilising population time series data for species. The Marine & Freshwater Conservation Programme has been delivering conservation of the Thames for the benefity of wildlife and people for over 10 years driving the understanding of the importance of this complex ecosystem and tackling its threats.

The current focus is on assessing the status of the river Thames by compiling novel indicators of biodiversity, habitats, human well-being and threats over time in order to assess the status and trends of the different components of this important ecosystem. 

The successful candidate will help with the collection of relevant data (population time series, conservation status, potentially presence-absence) for species dependent on the river Thames, as well as collation of data on habitat status over time and quantification of threats. The successful candidate will help with the production of indicators describing the state of the Thames river and its biodiversity, using R, GIS (ArcGIS and QGIS), and a number of databases to collate and aggregate the data. Specific tasks include: collecting and entering population time series data into the LPI database; collating data on conservation status of Thames-dependent species, using mapping and statistical techniques to analyse patterns in population trends and conservation status; running R scripts to derive biodiversity indicators from the data; assisting with report production and writing.

• Have an undergraduate degree or above in biology, zoology, ecology, conservation biology or a related subject
• Demonstrate strong research and analytical skills and an ability to work with large datasets
• Demonstrate good computer literacy, ideally with good knowledge of database management and website maintenance as well as Geographical Information Systems (ArcGIS and/or QGIS or others) and R
• Demonstrate excellent writing skills;
• Have good inter-personal skills, both in written and oral communication;
• Have outstanding administrative and organisation skills.

Applicants will need to upload their CV and answer the screening questions (detailing your relevant experience, interest and availability) and can do this by clicking the "Apply for this role online" button above. If you have any queries regarding this opportunity or when applying through the system please contact Human Resources at hr@zsl.org or marineandfreshwater@zsl.org.

Closing date for applications: Sunday 18th February 2018 .