What does better grazing management mean for the health and well-being of people? And can pesticide-treated cattle in livestock-wildlife integrated rangelands be used as tick traps to protect people and wildlife from tick- borne diseases? These are the questions we aim to answer with NSF-funded research in the Central Kenya. An interdisciplinary team of scientists and practitioners are exploring the links between wildlife, livestock, forage, ticks, tourists, ranchers and pastoralists in a working landscape. We seek a creative, independent social scientist to advance the part of this research focused on measuring impacts of integrated rangelands on household-scale tick-borne disease risk, income from cattle and tourism, and nutrition.
This is a full-time, non-tenure track position that will be jointly supervised by Dr. Brian Allan (University of Illinois) and Dr. Heather Tallis (The Nature Conservancy). Principal Responsibilities: Interact with a multi-disciplinary team to: Work with disease ecologists, conservation scientists, economists and others to identify indicators of tick-borne disease risk, income and nutrition that can be used to analyze landscape-scale patterns and translate those into simple computer models. Lead design, testing, and implementation of survey instruments for pastoralist and rancher households and for tourists visiting ranches. Analyze results of surveys to identify differences between land management types for human well-being Work with model developers to translate findings into simple models that predict how changes in rangeland management will propagate through the ecological and social systems and estimate impacts on household disease risk, income and nutrition. Coordinate survey design and field efforts closely with other related projects in the region (carbon baseline social monitoring being lead by The Nature Conservancy and Northern Rangelands Trust; livestock grazing study lead by Princeton University; cell phone pilot study for creating rapid, real-time household survey response data lead by The Nature Conservancy and Northern Rangelands Trust) Translate findings into peer-reviewed journal publications and other communications for conservation and general audiences Required Qualifications: Doctoral degree in social science-related field (e.g. social sciences with environmental focus, agricultural economics, development economics, experimental and behavioral economics) Experience designing, testing, implementing and analyzing household surveys Preferred Qualifications: Record of peer-reviewed publications related to development or conservation topics informed by household survey data Knowledge of extensive livestock systems, natural resource management and/or agricultural development problems in developing regions. Experience participating in cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary and multi-functional teams Experience working in a developing country Skill in managing field logistics under intense and remote settings with little support International (or Kenyan) drivers license and the ability to drive a 4X4 vehicle into remote areas Term: This is a full-time, non-tenure track, postdoctoral position that will be renewable annually pending satisfactory progress and the availability of funds. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Initial review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Location: The position is based at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya. The successful candidate will be expected to live and conduct this research at Ol Pejeta and other remote areas in the region for the duration of the position, with occasional travel to Nairobi and the United States for team meetings. Compensation: Salary will be commensurate with experience. To Apply: Send a cover letter, CV, two or three representative publications, and contact information for three referees (including email addresses) as a single PDF document to: Dr. Brian Allan (bal...@illinois.edu) and Dr. Heather Tallis (htal...@tnc.org).
