Research Fellow | Elephant Research Program
CWS invites applications for the position of Research Fellow to join the Elephant Research Program at the Centre for Wildlife Studies. The project aims to assess distribution and population status of Asian elephants in the southern Western Ghats and Northern Eastern Ghats landscapes across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh; analyze field data using quantitative and qualitative methods and identify drivers and hotspots of conflict across these regions; co-write papers on elephant and mammal ecology, habitat degradation and conflict, for submission to high impact journals and conduct outreach with key stakeholders towards mitigating conflict. The research would require extensive travel and field work in the forests of the Southern Western Ghats and Northern Eastern Ghats. There will also be a significant portion of desk-based data entry and analysis at our office in Bangalore. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES The senior research fellow will be an integral member of our elephant research team, reporting to Dr. Krithi K. Karanth and Dr. Vikram Aditya, and is expected to contribute significantly to all aspects of project implementation, data analysis, manuscript/report writing, and outreach. Specifically, the position will include 1. Field work over several months in the Southern Western Ghats and Northern Eastern Ghats 2. Data organization, entry and analysis using advanced analytical tools on GIS/RS platforms, R, Presence, Distance and other platforms, 3) the candidate is expected to lead the writing of manuscripts, articles and reports based on the findings of the project 4. Reviewing literature, collating existing information on elephant ecology, human wildlife interactions and landscape changes across the project region 5. Creating outreach and communication materials as and when required 6. Organizing stakeholder meetings in the field region 7. Project administration components. The successful candidate will also help organize and coordinate various project management tasks (coordinate research team meetings, help with grant reporting, possibly supervise an assistant etc.). There may be opportunities to communicate research results at conferences. The selected candidate should be able to work independently and lead junior researchers. REQUIRED SKILLS 1. Masters degree in the life sciences or any allied disciplines (including zoology, wildlife sciences, environmental sciences, geography, and other related disciplines) with a minimum of 5 years of work experience designing and carrying out ecological field surveys in diverse landscapes, interpreting and analyzing field data, and writing manuscripts. 2. Experience publishing at least 3 peer-reviewed publications in well-known journals. 3. Some experience carrying out social science surveys, semi-structured interviews, qualitative data collection and analysis, working with forest-dwelling or rural communities. APPLICATION PROCESS For a review of the application, please submit the following: 1. Curriculum vitae and a covering letter mentioning the position RF elephant program 2. 3-4 academic publications where the candidate is a first or second author 3. List of three professional references Please send all documents to Dr. Vikram Aditya at vikram.aditya@cwsindia.org with the subject line, Application for RF elephant program . Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis till the position is filled. Please note that incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
