Gibbon Behaviour Field Intern
The OuTrop Gibbon Behaviour Research Project began in 2005,
initiating the first long-term study of these small apes inBorneo. You
will be working closely with our international team of researchers
monitoring the behavioural ecology of habituated groups of gibbons, as
well as surveying and habituating to human presence unhabituated groups
to increase our knowledge of ranging, demography and inter-group
interactions. As the Gibbon Field Intern, you will be getting up before
dawn to reach the location of the apes’ sleeping tree, and following the
group to record extensive behavioural data until their next sleeping
tree. On searching days, you will enter the forest at dawn and search as
part of a team for targeted gibbon groups to collect ranging and
demography data. Full training of data collection methods and use of GPS
units will be provided in the field.
OuTrop is a not-for-profit research and conservation organisation
that works in the internationally-renownedSabangauForest; the largest
area of lowland forest remaining in Indonesian Borneo and home to the
largest population of orangutans in the world. Since 1999, we have been
working in collaboration with our Indonesian partners, CIMTROP, and
local communities to conserve this important forest through protection,
restoration and regeneration initiatives. This is achieved through three
important avenues: (i) conservation-orientated research, providing
important information for, and training to, local conservation
practitioners; (ii) encouraging and supporting locally-led conservation
initiatives, via the provision of funds, expertise, international and
media contacts, and logistical support; and (iii) capacity building and
information dissemination, including to local villages, scientists,
government and NGOs, and international scientific and conservation
communities.
The conservation work that we support includes damming illegal
logging canals, fighting fires, patrolling the forest to prevent illegal
activities and working with the local village community to increase
their support for conservation. Our research work is targeted towards
providing information to inform management and policy decisions, and
includes assessing the impacts of human threats and conservation
initiatives on biodiversity and our flagship conservation species, and
developing and refining methods to restore and regenerate degraded and
deforested areas.
As a dynamic and growing conservation organisation, we offer
internships with specific roles working on our field research projects.
Interns are required for periods of six months and will be based near
Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan in the Natural Laboratory of
Peat-swamp Forest; a 50,000 hectare area of forest where we conduct our
research. The base camp here is well established with over 80 km of
forest transects and many long-term forest plots. Interns will either
work on a number of different projects or be assigned specific projects
depending on experience, skills and our requirements. Interns may also
be expected to assist with project logistics, reporting and with our
volunteer programme, as required, and to provide regular contributions
towards our outreach communications (e.g., monthly blog posts).
OuTrop’s research activities include:
- Monthly surveys of forest fruiting and flowering patterns and forest productivity
- Monthly surveys of orangutan nest density
- Monitoring forest plots
- Annual surveys of gibbon density
- Orangutan behaviour research
- Gibbon behaviour research
- Red langur behaviour research
- Camera trapping to assess populations of felids and their prey
- Biodiversity surveys, including birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, to improve our understanding of the value of the area for biodiversity conservation and isolate indicators of forest disturbance for monitoring
- Regeneration studies; collection of seeds and seedlings; nursery maintenance, transplanting and monitoring of transplanted seedlings
- Monitoring of water levels and flow-rates in canals
- Week-long visits to remote monitoring sites to collect data on primate density, other fauna and forest structure
- Primate population density surveys
Requirements:
Interns must be available for a six-month period. At the end
of six months there may be the opportunity to stay for longer.
Applicants must be physically and mentally fit and able to handle the
challenges of field work, including working long days with very early
starts and late finishes (10-15 hour days are common for full-day
primate follows, with interns generally expected to conduct up to three
full-day follows back to back), uneven and flooded terrain, abundant
insect pests, tropical weather (high rainfall, temperature and humidity)
and basic living conditions. Interns will be expected to work at least
20 days in the field each month, over a typical 5-6 day working week.
We are a small team working in a remote region based in a camp with
limited privacy; all rooms are shared and personal space is
limited.Indonesiais a developing country and delays, complicated
bureaucratic procedures and last-minute changes of plan are an
unavoidable part of working here.Indonesiais also culturally very
different from the western world, health care is more basic, and the
diet is often delicious but also more monotonous (mostly rice, noodles
and vegetables – even for breakfast! – with some meat and fish). Interns
must therefore be good team players, energetic, highly motivated,
flexible, patient and willing to assist in all aspects of the project.
Applicants should complete an application form and supply a recent
CV. Short-listed candidates will then be invited for interview. Relevant
experience for the internship(s) you are applying for is preferred,
although not essential if suitable skills are identified. Interns with a
long-term interest in pursuing careers related to the topic of the
internship are preferred.
Interns must be able to pay a contribution to cover their living and
other costs on the Project, which includes a £210 deposit payable upon
acceptance, followed by a set fee of £325 per calendar month for the
duration of the internship. This includes all food and drinks at base
camp, accommodation at camp and in Palangka Raya, and work-related
travel between town and field sites inKalimantan. Interns will need to
cover the cost of their flights to and from Palangka Raya, all personal
equipment, travel insurance, the cost of an Indonesian visa in their
home country and personal spending costs. We encourage selected interns
to seek funding to cover their costs and, if secured, to contribute up
to £250 per month in addition as a contribution to the conservation work
of our Indonesian partners.
Please note: The Indonesian Research Permit application
process is lengthy and complicated. It generally takes a minimum of two
months and occasionally three months or more to get successful
applicants out to Indonesia, so please factor this is when considering
your availability.
Applications must include a fully completed application form and CV, and should be emailed to info@outrop.com by 29th
August 2013, with the position title as the email subject heading.
Interviews for short-listed candidates are expected to be held in early
September 2013.
