Research Assistant

**Job Description**:
**Job Title**:Research Assistant

**Posting Start Date**:20/02/2025

**Job Id**:839

**School/Department**:Biosciences

**Work Arrangement**:Full Time (On site)

**Contract Type**:Fixed-term

**Salary per annum (£)**:35,880.00

**Closing Date**:06/03/2025

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**Overview**

We are looking to appoint a Research Assistant for a project in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology research cluster in the School of Biosciences. Our group is interested in the dynamics of seabird populations and the impact of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. The project will involve intensive monitoring of the survival and productivity of common guillemots on Skomer Island, Wales, during their breeding season. The project is funded by charitable donations and led by Professors Ben Hatchwell and Tim Birkhead.

Duties will include intensive observations of a colony of guillemots to identify colour-ringed birds, regular and systematic searches of other locations around the island for colour-ringed birds, and monitoring of productivity of a sample of pairs at the main study colony. Additional duties may arise according to unpredictable developments during the field season. The Research Assistant will be responsible for day-to-day organization of fieldwork tasks to fulfil these duties. The Research Assistant will maintain frequent contact with the PIs, liaising with them to ensure efficient and rigorous collection of field data.

**Main duties and responsibilities**
- Routinely work flexibly on weekdays and at weekends to carry out routine monitoring activities.
- Re-sighting and recording of colour ringed birds at the main study colony and at other colonies on the island to enable an estimate of adult survival.
- Record timing of breeding and breeding success in a sample of breeding pairs at the main study colony.
- Count the number of adult guillemots at the main study colony on three equally spaced days during a specified census period.
- Record attendance at colonies following a systematic protocol.
- Record chick diet: fish species and size.
- Contribute to the writing of research reports, progress reports, presentations and any other reporting obligations.
- Disseminate the results via journals, conference presentations, and project meetings.
- Maintain accurate and complete records of all findings.
- Attend national and international conferences and workshops to present the research results to a wider audience and stay up to date with current advances in the field.
- Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

**Person Specification**

Essential criteria
- BSc or MSc (or equivalent experience) in a relevant biological discipline
- Experience in field ornithology: observation of wild birds and ability to read and record accurately colour ring details [assessed at Application / Interview]
- Experience of recording, managing and handling data to ensure rigorous entry into a database [assessed at Application / Interview]
- Knowledge, understanding and willingness to follow guidelines in safe fieldwork practice [assessed at Application / Interview]
- Effective written and verbal communication skills: report writing, developing relationships and working successfully with other researchers. [assessed at Application / Interview]
- Excellent organisational and planning skills with the ability to prioritise and plan own workload to agreed protocols and deadlines. [assessed at Application / Interview]
- Ability to develop creative approaches to problem solving and adapt own skills to new circumstances. [assessed at Application / Interview]
- Enthusiasm for biological research in a remote island setting. [assessed at Application / Interview]

Desirable criteria
- Prior experience of living in remote locations in a small community. [assessed at Application / Interview]
- Experience of working in rough terrain [assessed at Application / Interview]

**Further Information**

**Grade**:6

**Salary**:£31,387 - £35,880 per annum

**Work arrangement**:Full-time (35 hours per week)

**Duration**: 10 April 2025 to 10 August 2025

**Line manager**:Principal Investigator (Professor of Evolutionary Ecology)

**Direct reports**:None

**Our website**:School of Biosciences

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