Bat Conservation Technician
Position Title: Bat Conservation Technician
Program: Western Bat Program
Position location: Kaslo, BC
Term: June 8, 2023 –August 31, 2023
Reports to: Cori Lausen, Director of Bat Conservation
Wage: $23/hour plus 6% vacation pay
Supervises: N/A
Deadline for application: May 31, 2023
Position Summary:
The Bat Conservation Technician will work with WCS Canada staff to complete field and office objectives and tasks toward bat conservation and research within the Western Bat Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada.
Position Objectives:
This position will assist with 4 of our main bat conservation projects in southern BC: “Hot Bats” – assessing the threat of climate change to bats and identifying risk reduction actions; North American Bat Monitoring Program in BC – monitoring changes in bat populations in light of increasing threats; Mitigating Forestry Impacts – field-testing use of artificial bark and chainsaw modified trees by bats; and identifying and characterizing roosts in trees used by bat species-at-risk (Artificial Bark and “Bat Condos”).
This position will be a combination of field and office activities/tasks and may involve several days/nights in the field at a time with camping or primitive accommodations.
Principal Responsibilities:
Field-based (could be either night or day focus):Bat capture
Radio tracking (radiotelemetry is a highly transferrable skill used by biologists to track many species of fish and wildlife)
Bat marking (banding, PIT-tagging)
Genetic sampling
Deployment and monitoring of guano traps
Assisting with installation/construction of artificial bat roost structures
Deployment and retrieving of bat acoustic detectors and temperature loggers
Thorough and accurate record and data-keeping.
Office-based:
Data entry and database management
Compiling samples and coordinating with laboratories for sample analyses
Maintaining equipment and managing inventory
Communicating with First Nation partners, government collaborators, contractors, private landowners, citizen scientists, and funding agencies to provide data and updates
Photo inventory input and management
Communications such as webpage updates and social media posting
The successful the candidate will be trained to:
Use specialized research and monitoring equipment (e.g., bat acoustic detectors, thermal image cameras, PIT tag readers)
Capture, handle, sample and radio track bats
Identify all BC bat species (many of which are difficult to differentiate)
Analyze and/or synthesize various types of data including acoustic, genetic, microclimatic, and mark-recapture
Qualifications:
Be between the ages of 15 and 30 of age at the time of application
Physically capable to work in strenuous physical conditions and be outdoors for long periods of time at night (dusk-3 am) without getting drowsy
Be comfortable holding small animals that can bite
Be comfortable wearing a mask for long periods
Able to work during the day and evenings/night when netting bats
Up to date rabies vaccination and covid-19 vaccination in order to handle bats (BC Animal care permit requirement)
Access to appropriate outdoor gear
How to apply:
Please submit your CV with Cover letter explaining your interest in this position and relevant skills and experience using this link: https://wcscanada.bamboohr.com/careers/49?source=aWQ9Mjg%3D
For questions regarding the position, please contact Dana Blouin (dblouin@wcs.org).
For questions regarding the application process, please contact Okechukwu Ezibe at oezibe@wcs.org.
WCS Canada is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We are committed to providing barrier-free and accessible employment practices. Applicants with a disability or any special needs may make a request for accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process, and we will work with you to meet your needs. Such requests should be communicated to Okechukwu Ezibe (oezibe@wcs.org) or by phone 437-770-2776.
Office Safety Plan Compliance:
WCS Canada is committed to providing and maintaining a safe environment for our employees, contractors, and partners. As part of this unwavering commitment to safety, it is a condition of employment that Office-based WCS Canada employees be compliant with the respective Office Safety Plan, which includes being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with a COVID-19 vaccine series approved by Health Canada or the World Health Organization. This condition is subject to the requirements of applicable human rights legislation.
About WCS Canada
WCS Canada (www.wcscanada.org) was established as a Canadian conservation organization in July 2004. We are committed to championing accessibility, diversity, and equal opportunity. Our mission is to save wildlife and wild places by improving our understanding of and seeking solutions to critical problems that threaten key species and large wild ecosystems throughout Canada. We implement and support comprehensive field studies that gather information on wildlife needs and then seek to resolve key conservation problems by working with a broad array of actors. WCS Canada has a track record of our science being recognized as relevant, credible and legitimate by researchers, NGOs and agencies. WCS Canada is independently registered and managed, while retaining a strong collaborative working relationship with sister Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) programs in more than 60 countries.
Diversity and inclusion are core WCS Canada values. We value the diversity of the people we employ and work with and we strive to provide an inclusive and equitable workplace in which we recognize the unique characteristics, skills and experiences of all employees. We are committed to engaging our employees in our diversity, equity and inclusion work and together we aim to create a workplace where all staff feel they belong and can grow.
WCS Canada’s programs occur on the homelands of Indigenous Peoples whose relationships various governments are described in historic (numbered) Treaties, modern land claim agreements, and negotiations around unceded lands. We recognize and support the international ecological and social commitments and responsibilities to Indigenous Peoples that Canada has signed, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Our commitment to engagement with Indigenous Peoples ranges from notification of research to the provision of scientific advice, to co-creation of research. We respect Indigenous knowledge systems and include this knowledge in our research and conservation programs where possible. We engage in land use planning and impact assessment processes that affect Indigenous Peoples, seeking ways to advance conservation as well as opportunities to sustain the livelihoods and cultures of Indigenous communities. We seek to motivate positive conservation outcomes by supporting effective governance and decision-making processes by Indigenous communities, particularly by supporting Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas.
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Location
Kaslo, British Columbia
Department
Bat Conservation – British Columbia
Employment Type
WCS – Term Contract – Full-time
Minimum Experience
Entry-level
Compensation
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