Research Assistant (Fixed Term)

As Research Assistant, you will be based in the Museum of Zoology, and be part of a diverse team working on this project, including conservation researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of Reading, and conservation and policy professionals at WTBCN, WWT and RSPB. The role is focussed on helping to establish and monitor butterfly banks in Wiltshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, all on land managed by project partners. For the Wiltshire and Cambridgeshire sites, this will include setting and collecting pitfall traps for invertebrates and carrying out butterfly surveys on sites before banks are established, as a baseline. In Bedfordshire, where banks are already established, this will involve carrying out related surveys at established sites. The role holder will also coordinate applications for ethical permission and carry out questionnaires at sites accessing the impact of the banks on visitors. In the Museum, you will identify existing pitfall trap invertebrates
and new collections to a general level, liaise with the whole team to keep everyone involved, carry out additional paperwork associated with the project, collate collected data, and present results in various formats. During survey times in Wiltshire, we anticipate that the role holder will spend several days at a time in Wiltshire carrying out surveys in the field.

The Insect Ecology Group studies multiple aspects of insect ecology in the natural world, with a particular focus on methods to reduce negative human impacts on insect numbers, biodiversity and associated ecosystem processes. In the UK, this involves a close collaboration with conservation organisations, including the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN), Wiltshire Wildlife Trust (WWT) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), who are all partners on this project.