Postdoc position: HABITRACK – Habitat tracking for the conservation of huntable bird species

POSTDOC POSITION

-Duration: 1 June 2024 – 31 Dec 2027
-Workplace: Brno, Czech Republic
-Terms: 1.0 FTE
-Gross salary: 55,000 CZK/month
-Application deadline: 15 Apr 2024
-Project: HABITRACK – Habitat tracking for the conservation of huntable bird species

The project funded by Horizon Europe (HORIZON-CL6-2023-BIODIV-01) aims to gain crucial insights into the conservation of breeding, stopover and non-breeding habitats of 14 species of huntable birds in Europe. Many of these species are facing steep declines in numbers, emphasising the urgency for understanding their habitat requirements in terms of quality and quantity. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide decision-makers and managers with robust recommendations to effectively manage and restore these habitats, and thus ensure the favourable conservation status and sustainable management of these species. Specifically, the postdoc will use extensive tracking data and high-resolution remote sensing datasets to study how habitat selection at non-breeding grounds affects spring phenology and breeding performance. Drawing on the concept of carry-over effects, the postdoc will:

-Investigate temporal dependencies among different stages of the annual cycle in the selected species
-Develop customized R scripts to automatically identify breeding status and performance from detailed multi-sensor tracking data
-Test how temporal and spatial variation in non-breeding conditions, particularly duringwinter and spring stopovers, influence individual breeding status and performance, and link them to population trends

Tracking data for the Eurasian Curlew (>300 individuals) are already available and the postdoc will begin by analysing these data, using this species as a proof of concept. These analyses will then provide the analytical framework to be applied to all other study species as soon as the necessary data are collected. The central task of the project, for which the Institute of Vertebrate Biology is responsible, is to establish how carry-over effects, particularly the downstream consequences of non- breeding conditions on reproductive output, influence population trends, thereby offering insights for effective conservation strategies for these species.

WORKING CONDITIONS:
The postdoc will work at the Bird Ecology and Migration Lab led by Petr Procházka. This research group is a small team based at the Institute of Vertebrate Biology CAS (IVB), at its headquarters in Brno, Czech Republic (https://www.ivb.cz/en/workplace/research-facility-brno/). The primary workspace of the postdoc will be at the IVB in Brno. Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic, is a modern research and innovation hub. The IVB headquarters are housed in a spacious villa located in a quiet residential district. The IVB’s scientific community comprises numerous international
early-career researchers, offering promising opportunities for professional networking. Furthermore, the candidate will have the chance to interact with other teams from the international HABITRACK consortium (led by Frédéric Jiguet, Pierrick Bocher, Aurélien Besnard, Andrea Kölzsch, Markus Piha, and Aleksi Lehikoinen). The postdoc will receive a competitive monthly gross salary of 55,000 CZK, with social and health insurance provided in addition. This ensures more than comfortable living standard in Brno.

REQUIREMENTS:
The successful candidate will possess a deep understanding of data analysis, and a strong interest in avian ecology and conservation. The ideal candidate will have good experience in data analysis in R and GIS, animal tracking, remote sensing data, habitat use, bird ecology and conservation. The primary focus of the position is on data analysis and scientific manuscript writing, though there will be opportunities for fieldwork. A valid ringing licence or experience in bird handling and tagging is thus an advantage but not a requirement. The quality of the candidate’s existing work will be given priority over the number of publications. Extensive experience in R programming and data analysis, as well as excellent scientific publication skills will be the most decisive criteria in candidate selection. All candidates, regardless of gender and background, are warmly invited to apply. We particularly encourage applications that will contribute to the diversity of our team.

APPLICATION:

Candidates should compile a structured CV, a motivation letter, and a letter of recommendation into a single PDF file and send it to Petr Procházka (prochazka@ivb.cz) by 15 Apr 2024. Online interviews with shortlisted candidates will be conducted until the position is filled.

*Link to a flier with more details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eKkgX7GctLdDLDfDI7OAEls5qlpF0pR8/view