Avian Technician Lead and Avian Technician

Position Title: Avian Technician Lead and Avian Technician

Position type:Full-time

Salary rate: $30-$32 per hour

Term: May 15 - July 28 2023

Location: Whitehorse, Dawson City or Mayo, Yukon

Reports to: Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle & Morgan Brown

Supervises: Not applicable

Position Start Date: May 15 2023

Application closing date: 21 February 2023

Position Summary

WCS Canada is seeking one avian field technician lead and one avian technician to assist with avian monitoring throughout Central Yukon for the 2023 spring breeding bird field season. The two successful applicants will be deploying acoustic recording technology and performing basic habitat assessments in reclaimed placer mines and undisturbed riparian and wetland areas near Dawson City and Mayo, YT. The avian technician lead and avian technician will work together under supervision of Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Northern Boreal Mountains Conservation Planning Biologist, and Morgan Brown, Postdoctoral Research Fellow. The primary responsibility of the avian technician lead will be to coordinate deploying and retrieving recording units in remote field sites spread over a large geographic area, and be responsible for field data management in Excel, and plotting and managing spatial data in a geographic information system (GIS). Other duties will include field preparation, maintaining and organizing field equipment, other tasks related to data management and administration of time management. The avian technician will also deploy and retrieve recording units and participate in field preparations and data entry, but is not required to have as much field experience as the avian technician lead, however knowledge in these areas is preferred.

The cost of transportation, accommodation, campground fees, fuel, and food will be covered for this position while in the field. In total, this position will involve 1 week of field preparation and training in Whitehorse, 8 weeks of field work in central Yukon, and 1 week of data entry and equipment organization at the end of the field season.

Both Field Technicians will be paid hourly for the 10 week contract. Overtime will be at the discretion of the project supervisor and will be calculated based on time averaging. To better manage budgets, Field Technicians will have the option of taking overtime as paid time in lieu, as per a time averaging agreement at the end of the contract. Once again, we require the successful applicants to be flexible with work hours and changing work schedules.

Position Objectives:

This position supports the WCS Canada Northern Boreal Mountains Cumulative Effects program which has the following primary objectives:

Primary Responsibilities of Avian Field Technician Lead:

• Preparation, organization, and maintenance of field and field safety equipment
• Deployment and retrieval of acoustic recording units, including travel to remote locations on foot, motorboat, and helicopter
• Supervise field work and the avian field technician
• Coordinate travel, accommodation and other logistics related to field work
• Manage field expenses and expense reporting
• Entry and organization of audio recordings into Excel database
• Organize spatial data in ArcGIS
• Administering time management and submitting timesheets

Primary Responsibilities of Avian Field Technician:

• Daily organization and maintenance of field and field safety equipment
• Deployment and retrieval of acoustic recording units, including travel to remote locations on foot, motorboat, and helicopter
• Use GPS to track site locations
• Entry and organization of audio recordings into Excel database

Essential Qualifications of Avian Field Technician Lead:

• Multiple years’ experience working with or leading field based surveys
• Experience working and navigating in remote conditions using a compass, map, and GPS
• Experience operating 4x4 trucks on rough access roads
• Remote or wilderness first aid and bear safety training
• Proficient with Microsoft Excel
• Strong communication, organization, and time-management skills
• Independent with strong problem solving skills and attention to detail
• Supervisory experience is an asset
• Experience identifying boreal birds by sight and sound is an asset
• Experience plotting spatial data in GIS is an asset

Essential Qualifications of Avian Field Technician:

• Ability and experience working in remote field conditions including extensive off-trail hiking, early mornings, inclement weather, wildlife encounters, and biting insects
• Willingness to sustain life in rustic field camps for multiple days (i.e. cooking, cleaning, etc.)
• First aid and bear safety training
• An interest in birds and nature
• Basic computer skills including experience with MS Office products
• Experience operating a 4x4 truck
• Experience identifying boreal birds by sight and sound is an asset
• Positive and “can do” attitude in varied and diverse team environments

How to apply:

Please submit your CV with cover letter explaining your interest in this position and relevant skills and experience.

For questions regarding the position, please contact Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle at cmantykapringle@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.