Hiring Organization: University of Florida

Date Posted: 2011-07-18

Position Description: A volunteer research assistant is needed for 4- 6 months to assist a PhD student conduct his research on gibbon seed dispersal ecology in remote Northeastern Cambodia. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in getting field research experience. The field assistant duties will include: following gibbon groups for extended periods of time, watching fruiting trees for extended periods of time, collecting feces, habituating gibbon groups, monitoring field experiments involving seed and seedling growth, and monitoring camera traps.

Qualifications/Experience: A successful candidate should be very comfortable in the forest with spiders, snakes, leeches, mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies. The sleeping accommodations are fairly rustic, a mattress on a wood plank under a mosquito net. Scorpions, lizards, spiders and ants are frequent bedroom guests. The diet is limited (lots of rice), but meals almost always consist of meat, so vegetarians will have severe difficulty. A minimum of junior or senior in a B.S. program in biology, ecology or related fields would be preferred. But the main qualification is a commitment to being an active participant on this project.

Salary/funding: This is largely a volunteer position. I can pay for food and lodging at the field site as well as transport to and from Phnom Penh to the field site. Subsistence in the cities, visa, airfare to Cambodia, health insurance, field equipment etc. would be the volunteer’s responsibility. There is a small possibility of me acquiring additional grant funding, if that happens I will reimburse airfare after successful completion of 4 months of work.

Support provided for internship/volunteer positions (travel, meals, lodging): Food and lodging at the field site. Travel from Phnom Penh to and from field site.

Term of Appointment: 4 months minimum

Application Deadline: August 15

Comments: To Apply: E-mail a CV and short cover letter to jlfrechette@gmail.com

Contact Information: Jackson Frechette University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32601 USA

E-mail Address: jluc@ufl.edu