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The Beaty Postdoctoral Fellowship for Species Discovery

Call for Applications

The Canadian Museum of Nature is Canada's national natural history museum with a long, respected history of collection development and research related to endangered-species initiatives in Canada.

The museum is a founding member of the Committee for the Status of Endangered Species in Canada (COSEWIC). Through activities of The Beaty Centre for Species Discovery the museum regularly provides data about endangered species in Canada that addresses their taxonomy, distribution, abundance and natural-history and that leads to the assessment of their at-risk status by COSEWIC.

Fellowship Description

The museum is seeking applicants for The Beaty Postdoctoral Fellowship for Species Discovery who wish to conduct research that addresses conservation and endangered-species issues in Canada.

For example, topics may include innovative approaches to development of new indicators for risk assessment, addressing understudied taxa, geographical analyses of distributions of endangered species, development of a habitat-based approach to conservation and risk assessment, use of GIS to enhance recognition of risks to endangered species, development of industrial practices that promote conservation of endangered species, and use of palaeobiological data to assess potential for extinction.

The two-year award is for a recent doctoral graduate willing to expand the boundaries of traditional conservation biology.

Facilities

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop research projects using the collections and laboratories at the research and collections facility of the Canadian Museum of Nature.

Known as the Natural Heritage campus, the facility has a wide range of light-microscope equipment, an electron microscope facility, molecular biology laboratory, photographic studio and library. These facilities are designed to support projects in whole-organism systematics, evolution and ecology.

Public Engagement

The candidate will be expected to make their research projects accessible to the public through such means as oral presentations, the use of popular social media, and media interviews.

Program Development

As part of this position the candidate will be an active member of The Beaty Centre for Species Discovery. The candidate will be expected to contribute to the goals of the centre and may be asked to engage content developers, designers and other team members on current endangered species and conservation issues that are appropriate to nature-literacy programming for the general public.

Collection Curation

The candidate will also work closely with the curator in their group of taxonomic expertise (zoology, botany, palaeobiology) to enhance the utility of the museum's extensive collections as concerns conservation biology and endangered species initiatives.

Compensation

This unique opportunity will provide a valuable research experience that will be compensated at a rate of $45 000 per year, renewable for one year, with up to $5000 per year available to support the research program.

Fellowship Start Date

April 2, 2018 (negotiable)

Candidate Requirements

  • Completion of all doctoral requirements within the last five years
  • Publication in peer-reviewed journals
  • Curriculum vitae and contact information for three references
  • An explanation of why the Canadian Museum of Nature is important to your research (<250 words)
  • A brief description of proposed research, including a basic budget (<1000 words).

Candidate Assets

  • Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  • Demonstrated ability to communicate science to the public
  • Collection-focused, specimen-based research
  • Experience in working with museum specimens
  • Ability to communicate in both official languages.

Application Deadline

January 31, 2018

Contact Us to Apply

Robert Anderson, Ph.D.
Director, The Beaty Centre for Species Discovery
Canadian Museum of Nature
P.O. Box 3443, Station D
Ottawa, ON K1P 6P4
randerson@mus-nature.ca

The Canadian Museum of Nature supports employment equity.