Overview: The Manager, Plants of Concern & Regional Native Plant Conservation Specialist oversees a long-term citizen science rare plant monitoring program and participates in diverse initiatives to advance regional conservation of native plants. Purpose:
Manage the Plants of Concern program and coordinate with local partners and Garden staff to accomplish regional conservation goals and advance institutional needs of the Garden. Duties and Responsibilities: In this role you will be responsible for the following: * Manage the Plants of Concern rare plant monitoring program, including the supervision of the research assistants, interns, and 100-200 volunteers annually. Maintain a high quality long-term dataset on rare plant populations. Provide data to research partners and land owners in ways that advance conservation of rare plants while preserving confidentiality * Conduct research on the native, rare, threatened, and endangered plants of the upper Midwest collaboration with with Garden scientists, and academic and non-academic partner institutions (e.g., Forest Perserves of Cook County and other conty conservation landowners, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Openlands, The Morton Arboretum, Northwestern University) * Disseminate research results through lectures, publications, and presentations at professional meetings * Work with development and accounting staff to apply for and manage grants to help support operational costs of the Plants of Concern program as well as related conservation projects. Prepare and submit reports. * Serve as an external liaison to regional conservation groups like the Midewin Stakeholders Alliance, Chicago Wilderness, and the Illinois Native Plant Society. * Provide expertise in local natural areas conservation, permitting, and contacts to the Plant Science department. Qualifications: Our ideal candidate will have the following: * MS or PhD in plant biology with a focus on ecology or related field * Minimum of strong experience and knowledge of local flora * Ability and willingness to work with volunteers and local land owners * Passion for fieldwork * Great people skills * Ability to work with large data sets * Great communication skills For more information, find the full posting here: https://www.chicagobotanic.org/jobs/manager_plants_concern_regional_native_plant_conservation_specialist Pati Vitt
