Bird Monitoring Biologist (Northern Canada)

Are you looking to channel your skills into meaningful, energizing work that will directly contribute to protecting our natural world? Do you want to work with an exceptional group of passionate and caring colleagues?

Birds Canada is the country’s premier national organization dedicated to bird conservation. Every day, our thousands of caring donors, 80+ dedicated staff, and 70,000+ outstanding volunteers are taking action to help us better understand, appreciate, and conserve birds and their habitats. Together, we are Canada’s Voice for Birds – will you join us?

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Bird Monitoring Biologist plays an important role supporting monitoring efforts, leading Autonomous Recording Unit (ARU) data management and processing, and building related technology capacity for monitoring for Birds Canada’s Science in the North project. Reporting to the Manager, Science in the North, the Biologist will support northern Indigenous communities and groups and Science in the North program staff in ARU equipment and analysis needs. The Biologist will also be involved in designing, planning, and supporting monitoring projects, and supporting other tracking projects such as Motus, Zoom recorders, and trail cameras. The Biologist will travel to northern communities to support field work, capacity building, and monitoring.

EMPLOYMENT DETAILS

This full-time role reports to the Manager, Science in the North, and is flexible remote/hybrid remote/in-person. This position will require occasional travel for northern meetings (e.g., Labrador, Québec, Ontario) and project support. Anticipated start date for this role is November 2024.

TOTAL COMPENSATION

Birds Canada is proud to offer an exceptional Total Compensation Package, including a competitive starting salary and 5% RRSP matching after 12 months of service.  In addition, staff enjoy a primarily employer-paid extended benefits package designed to support your well-being, including health and dental coverage, Basic Group Life Insurance, Group out-of-province travel insurance, Vision, ADD&D and short- and long-term disability coverage.  We offer all staff 4 weeks’ vacation per year to start along with 12 personal health days and additional paid vacation days between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

STARTING SALARY: The salary for this role starts at $56,423 annually, commensurate with your previous experience.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participate in northern Indigenous-led or co-developed bird monitoring projects through project design, conducting monitoring work, and related follow-up
• Timely processing of ARU and Zoom recorder data through manual interpretation and/or recognizer tools (e.g., BirdNet) for northern Indigenous communities
• Preparation, deployment, retrieval, and maintenance of acoustic units, and management of acoustic files and data
• Provide in-person and virtual trainings for community-led or co-developed projects relating to bird identification, monitoring protocols, recording technology use
• Support other aspects of Science in the North project: data gathering, support key Birds Canada initiatives in North, and helping advance data applications for conservation
• Assisting with reporting and communications to public and funders

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Strong bird monitoring experience, including acoustic and visual identification, surveying protocols
• ARU experience from set-up to analysis, including manual and recognizer interpretation of data, data management
• Demonstrated ability to simultaneously work on a variety of projects with shifting goals
• Able to work closely with team, both virtually and in remote locations
• Prior experience working with Indigenous Peoples and in northern regions
• Knowledge of Northern Canada’s bird fauna, including relevant biology and conservation needs
• Passion for conservation and understanding of conservation priorities
• English essential, French or Indigenous language fluency are strong assets

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Experience (2+ years) conducting bird monitoring/research surveys, deploying/working with ARUs and processing recording data, working in remote locations.
• B.Sc. or M.Sc. with a focus on wildlife biology, conservation, or related field; candidates with other advanced qualifications and/or parallel experience will also be considered.

TO APPLY

Please submit your resume along with a covering letter outlining how your past experience makes you the perfect candidate for this role via the Birds Canada Online Job Portal by September 29, 2024, 22:00 ET.  Birds Canada will provide accommodation throughout the recruitment, selection, and/or assessment process to applicants with disabilities.

Birds Canada is committed to improving levels of diversity among its volunteers, membership, staff, and board that reflects the diversity of communities across the country. In an effort to do so, we are actively seeking to improve our ability to reach all candidates with our job postings. Applicants belonging to racialized groups, who identify as Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+, or who have differing abilities are therefore welcome to self-identify in their cover letter, if they feel comfortable, although this is not a requirement.