Steens Wildlife Research Technician (Eastern Oregon)

Job Description: Oregon State University is hiring 1-2 seasonal technicians to spend a summer collecting valuable scientific data for a research project in the beautiful and remote Steens Mountains in the Oregon desert. Successful applicants will primarily work with a graduate student on a multi-agency research project assessing songbird abundance and diversity and ungulate use across a variety of habitat types and juniper gradients, with start date of mid-May and continuing until August. This project also aims to directly evaluate the songbird response to juniper removal. Successful candidates will gain outstanding theoretical and practical training and experience in wildlife ecology, conservation, and management in the northern Great Basin. At the end of the field season, technicians will gain experience in: Western songbird ID by sight and sound, ATV/4WD/trailer operation and maintenance, game camera and automated recording unit setup, navigating through isolated wilderness and rough terrain, and collecting scientific data for peer-refereed research articles.

Position Duties: This will primarily be a field-based job involving irregular work hours and/or days and will include camping in remote locations. These positions are physically demanding, and require living and working in isolated areas without internet and with a small group of people. Work will consist of roughly 85% data/sample collection and processing in the field and lab and 15% data entry and summarization. Field work includes conducting songbird and avian predator (e.g., corvid and raptor) point count surveys, collection of data on habitat characteristics and deployment of game cameras and automated recording units. The position requires irregular and very early morning hours under adverse field conditions (wind, rain, snow, mud). Successful applicants will work in the field individually and in group settings utilizing ATVs, UTVs and/or 4WD trucks and hiking to reach extremely remote survey locations. Study sites are located on Steens Mountain in eastern Oregon.

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Experience with auditory songbird point count surveys, including the identification of western bird species by sound and sight
2. Courses/experience with wildlife data collection and sampling methods
3. Experience conducting field work in rough terrain
4. Experience/training with automated recording units (e.g., swift units) and/or game cameras
5. Demonstrated experience/training with ATVs, UTVs, 4WD vehicles, manual transmissions, GPS units (such as InReach units) and map apps (e.g., Avenza Maps, onX)
6. Experience camping and living/working in remote and rural areas
7. Potential candidates should be well organized, self-motivated, and able to perform duties independent of direct supervision
8. Possess a current, valid driver’s license: a driver’s license required to drive provided OSU field vehicle to commute to remote research project locations. A driving history for the past 3 years from the issuing state’s Dept. of Motor Vehicles is required in order to drive University vehicles.
9. Demonstrated commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity.
10. Ability to safely lift and carry up to 50lbs
11. Ability to learn quickly and collect extremely accurate data efficiently.

Salary: $15-18/hour DOE + bunkhouse-style housing and utilities provided

Last Date to Apply: January 31st, 2023, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting January 3rd, 2023.

Please submit a cover letter, resume and three professional references (name, email, and phone number) as a single pdf or word file to cara.christensen@oregonstate.edu with Steens Wildlife Technician in the subject line. Please name the file with your first and last name. Applications without this subject line may be missed and might not be considered. Start dates will be mid-May (flexible). Please indicate your availability in your email or cover letter.