We are hiring a full-time, seasonal technician for a project exploring how management of grazing lands influences plants and pollinators. The technician will assist with bee and butterfly surveys as well as transects quantifying plant community composition.
Duties will primarily include: line-transect distance sampling for butterflies, observing plant-pollinator interactions and netting bees, identifying and counting flowers, and estimating canopy coverage and visual obstruction. The technician will be trained in these techniques and will work with the graduate student to complete the vegetation transects.
Work will involve long days in the field and a good attitude is essential. Expect to deal with bugs, sun, heat, and other fieldwork conditions typical of the Great Plains. Technician will not need to handle livestock, but should be comfortable working in pastures with sheep or cattle. The field season runs June 1 – Aug 16; start and end dates for technician are flexible.
Pay is $12/hour and housing at the Hettinger Research Extension Center in Hettinger, North Dakota is provided in addition to all work-related transportation at the Center.
Applicants must be comfortable with handling stinging bees and insects. Furthermore, applicants should be comfortable living and working in a rural setting.
Previous experience identifying grassland plants and pollinators is preferred, however, techniques can be taught, an eagerness to learn and a good work ethic are more important.
Applicants should be self-reliant, motivated, and flexible. Evidence of ability to work both cooperatively and independently in the field is required. A valid driver’s license is a plus.
Interested applicants should send a cover letter expressing interest and suitability for the position along with a resume and 3 professional references to Jasmine Cutter (graduate student on the project and field supervisor), jasmine.cutter@ndsu.edu. Applications will be reviewed as they are received; apply by January 1st for full consideration.