Disease Ecology Project Assistant Opportunities Available at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is accepting applications for the following positions (22):

1) Disease Ecology Project Assistants, “Mouse-mast Project” (up to 3)

Job Description: Research the dynamics of mammalian communities and the relationships between mammals, ticks, oak trees, and Lyme disease. Location is the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Duties include live-trapping small mammals, taking blood, urine, and fecal samples, reliably recording trapping data, sampling abundance of ticks, collecting tree seeds, and conducting seedling surveys within eastern deciduous forest plots. Early morning and late afternoon hours, as well as occasional weekends, are required.

Qualifications: Prior experience handling small mammals is highly desirable.

Employment: Employment can begin as early as April 1 or as late as mid May, with an end date of approximately November 14, 2019.

To Apply: Please submit job application via http://www.caryinstitute.org/who-we-are/jobs and include a single PDF file consisting of a letter of application, a resume, and the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of three professional references. Be sure to cite Job Number 19001-I, “Mouse-mast Project”.

2) Disease Ecology Project Assistants, “Tick-Climate Project” (up to 6)

Job Description: Research the effects of weather and climate on the survival and behavior of blacklegged ticks and risk of tick-borne disease. Location is the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York’s Hudson River Valley, with biweekly travel to sites between northern New York and North Carolina. Duties include maintaining lab colonies of mice and ticks, establishing and maintaining field plots with ticks, assessing and recording tick survival, and downloading data from dataloggers.

Qualifications: Meticulous attention to detail and experience in field ecology is mandatory. Prior experience handling small mammals is highly desirable.

Employment: Employment to begin between March 15 and May 1, with an end date of approximately November 30, 2019.

3) Disease Ecology Project Assistants, “The Tick Project” (up to 12)

Job Description: Research the effects of tick management interventions on the survival and behavior of blacklegged ticks and risk of tick-borne disease in people. Location is the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York’s Hudson River Valley, with travel to sites throughout Dutchess County, New York. Duties include sampling, collecting, and identifying collected ticks from suburban/village neighborhoods, live-trapping small mammals, gathering and entering data on tick encounters with local residents and cases of tick-borne disease, deploying wildlife cameras, and identifying species captured in wildlife camera photos.

Qualifications: Meticulous attention to detail and experience in field ecology is mandatory. Prior experience handling small mammals is highly desirable.

Employment: Employment to begin between April 1 and May 15, with an end date of approximately October 4, 2019.

4) Disease Ecology Project Assistant, “Tick Control Liaison” (1 position)

Job Description: Research the effects of tick management interventions on the survival and behavior of blacklegged ticks and risk of tick-borne disease in people. Location is the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York’s Hudson River Valley, with travel to sites throughout Dutchess County, New York. Duties include acting as liaison between research staff at the Cary Institute and the pest control personnel who deploy tick control interventions on our study sites. The project assistant will:

-Assure compliance with research protocols and methodologies

-Maintain quality control of the preparation, delivery, and application of tick control interventions

-Maintain the double-blind study design

-Oversee the application of tick control interventions in study neighborhoods

-Address questions and concerns of study participants and members of the public in study neighborhoods

-Collect and maintain meticulous records of tick control treatments and other relevant field data

The project assistant will also spend approximately 25% of their time over the summer assisting on other tick-related projects and will perform a combination of lab and field work related to sampling the abundance of ticks.

Qualifications: Prior experience with field ecology, regulatory compliance, and vector control is highly desirable.

Employment: Employment to begin between April 1 and April 15, with an end date of approximately September 30, 2019 with the possibility of extension.

To Apply: Please submit job application via http://www.caryinstitute.org/who-we-are/jobs and include a single PDF file consisting of a letter of application, a resume and the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of three professional references. Be sure to cite Job Number 19004-I, “Tick Control Liaison”.

All positions report to Dr. Richard S. Ostfeld and are full time, 35 hours/week. Wage is commensurate with education and experience. The final candidate will be required to complete a post-offer, pre-employment driving background check successfully. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. On-site or nearby housing is available. Review of applications will begin on January 14, 2019. Postings are open until February 15, 2019 or until filled.

The Cary Institute is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action (AA) employer. It is the policy of the Company to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, familial status, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.