Dear Ecologers Fauna Forever, a non-profit based in Peru, is now recruiting interns and volunteers to assist with its Amazon rainforest-based wildlife research and conservation projects, community development projects, botanical, forest carbon and medicinal plant studies, and agroforestry and green energy initiatives in the Madre de Dios region. There are also a few limited opportunities for those interested in office-based non-profit management activities at our bases in the cities of Puerto Maldonado and Cusco. Opportunities are available throughout 2018.
If you are a student, recent graduate of the environmental or social sciences, or you are someone looking for a worthwhile activity during a career break period, and you want to gain active field experience in the humid Neotropics and contribute to rainforest conservation efforts, then we’d encourage you to get involved. HOW TO GET INVOLVED Those interested should contact us at our central email ([email protected]) with a CV and cover letter detailing the following information. Name: Nationality: Age: Period or dates (number of weeks or preferred arrival and departure dates): Why you would like to assist our projects? What skills could you bring to our teams? Any other relevant information that the selection committee should take into account: SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES TAUGHT The skills and techniques that our international team of conservation biologists and community project coordinators can teach interns and volunteers in an experiential learning context in Peru, include: 1. Wildlife research techniques for studying diversity, population dynamics, home range size, and the behavior of focal taxa = Unbounded line transects, camera traps and DSLR photography, mist netting with banding/ringing, baited and un-baited pit-fall traps, point count stations, quadrats, Bal-chatri traps, Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) and Global Positioning System (GPS) tagging, acoustic monitoring, and associated data analysis methods. Focal taxa = Terrestrial and arboreal mammals (primates, cats, ungulates, tapir, etc.); Birds (tanagers, flycatchers, toucans, parrots and macaws, raptors, etc.); Herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles, including snakes and caiman); Insects (butterflies and dung-beetles); 2. Botanical, forest carbon and medicinal plant research techniques = Cuadrats and larger plots, line transects, microscopy, voucher collection, direct observation and interviews with locals, local market surveys. 3. Community development project skills = Interviews of individuals and focus groups in rural community settings, developing action plans, economic valuation of natural resources, business and risk management plans, ecotourism marketing plans, environmental education in rural schools, indigenous knowledge storage and retrieval mechanisms, etc. 4. Office-based non-profit management skills = Data analysis and infographics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) management and mapping, social media management, project development processes (planning, budgeting, decision making etc.), calculating carbon emissions per project. MAP OF RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION SITES A map showing the location of Fauna Forever’s research, conservation, and community development sites can be found at this link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1n0YqLRbsj-ttHui-bO5mh8XczZQ Many thanks! Chris Kirkby (PhD) ----------------------------- Founder, Managing Director, and Principal Investigator at Fauna Forever Tambopata Hostel, Gonzales Prada 161, Puerto Maldonado, Peru Urb. Santa Maria P1D, San Sebastian, Cusco, Peru Tel: +51 993915158 / 992771166 E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: http://facebook.com/FaunaForever Web: http://faunaforever.org
