Job Description:
The University of California at Santa Barbara is currently taking applications for a field assistant to help with a paper wasp study in northwestern Pennsylvania at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. This is a large field study that involves monitoring paper wasp colonies in nature for growth and survival over several months. Previous work has demonstrated strong behavioral variation among queens in this species, and that queen personality can be used to predict the subsequent behavior of their colonies, as well as their fitness in the wild. This study is done completely in the field and involved testing queen behavior and monitoring their colonies over the course of the season for survival, growth, and parasite load. The behavioral aspect of the study will be complete prior to the assistant arriving. The assistant will need to monitor the colonies daily, which involves noting whether the colony is still active, the size of the colony, number of workers, and queen survival. This will need to be performed from early June through October. Assistants will stay at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, and their lodging and gas will be fully covered. Compensation: Assistants will be paid $500 per month, and stay for free at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. Gas will be covered. Assistants will also be included as a coauthor on the manuscript resulting from this research, and we can provide assistants with glowing letters of recommendation in the future. Duration: 5 months (June through October). We are accepting applications now. Requirements: 1. Seriously interested in pursuing a career in ecology 2. Need to have your own transportation (car) 3. Preferably live in or near Pennsylvania, as we cannot fly assistants in, since assistants need their own car (remember, gas will be compensated). 4. Excellent academic performance 5. Undergraduate or recent graduate 6. Must be able to stay for the entire 5 month duration 7. *Must not be overly afraid of wasps*. *Apply for this position*: If this position interests you, please send your CV, unofficial academic records including current GPA, and two personal references that we may contact to *Colin Wright *(colinunivers...@gmail.com). *We are accepting applications NOW*. Additionally, if you have any questions regarding us, our lab, or the project, please don't hesitate to email me and ask!
