The Ponisio, McFrederick and Woodard Labs at UC Riverside are beginning a new three-year study in the Central Valley of California asking how bees on farms using pollinator-friendly practices (Bee Better Certified farms) might experience 1) lower pesticide exposure, 2) lower parasite loads, and 3) higher nutrition, compared to those on conventional farms. The project is in collaboration with the Hladik Lab at the USGS, Hillary Sardiñas the creator of the Bee Better certification program, and Houston Wilson, UCR tree crop extension specialist.
Two temporary field technician positions are available for approximately 2.5 months, starting around mid-January 2018 and ending around the end of March. These two field technicians will join a team sampling pollinator communities in almond orchards across California during February and March 2018. We will conduct hand-netting and stationary trapping of pollinator species, focusing on native bees, butterflies, flies, and wasps. We are also recruiting for a three-year position as a project/lab manager starting around June 2018 and would be open to having one of our field technicians stay on in this expanded role with additional lab responsibilities, if interested (however, interest in this project/lab manager job is not a requirement for the temporary field technician positions). *Responsibilities* - Field monitoring and collection of pollinators - Processing insect specimens in the lab including pinning bees and labeling samples - Data entry into spreadsheets - Periodic monitoring of trap nesting surveys or other miscellaneous pollination experiments *Required Qualifications* - Interest in botany, entomology, conservation biology and field ecology - Previous field or lab experience or coursework related to botany and/or entomology - Attention to detail (will be collecting and working with original data) - Highly motivated and able to work independently - Basic computer skills (Word, Excel) - Ability to work in field for long hours - Valid Drivers License *Preferred Qualifications* Bachelors degree in relevant field Previous experience with pollinators, especially native bees and/or monitoring other insect populations Previous field experience in agricultural areas *Salary & Benefits*The salary for this position is $2641- $3082 monthly, depending on previous experience *How to Apply*To apply submit the following to kathleen.c....@gmail.com with "Field Tech Application - YourLastName" as the subject line, e.g., " Field Tech Application - Ponisio": 1) Cover letter describing your qualifications and interest in this position 2) C.V. 3) The names and contact information for 2-3 references Please also specify whether you would be interested only in this temporary position or if you would also like to be considered for the potential expansion into a full-time project /lab manager position after the end of the field season. *About the Ponisio Lab*The Ponisio Lab is a new lab at the University of California, Riverside. With continued degradation of ecosystems, we need to know how to restore biodiversity, both for conservation and to ensure the provision of essential services provided by nature. To manage and restore diversity in human-modified systems, however, we need to understand the mechanisms that originally maintained biodiversity. The Ponisio Lab studies the mechanisms operating in complex systems, specifically ecological communities, that underlie diversity maintenance. The questions we are currently tackling are along these lines: 1) How do the characteristics of communities affect interaction patterns? 2) How do interaction patterns feedback to affect the characteristics of communities? 3) How can we design (restore) degraded communities to promote stability and evolutionary potential (applying all the principles learned from the above)?
