REU forest ecology
REU, Forest Ecology, Clemson University by Jason Fridley (13 Feb 2026 12:27 EST)
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The Fridley Lab at Clemson University is seeking two motivated undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience in plant ecology as part of research teams working in the Great Smoky Mountains and Clemson Experimental Forest. Students will assist staff and graduate students in fieldwork in Clemson, SC, as well as several multi-day trips to the Smokies, about two hours from campus. Students must be able and willing to do some hiking and work off trails in humid conditions. Students will also be involved in a variety of laboratory activities related to plant growth trials, which may include sensor building and statistical analysis, pending student interest. Students will be provided with a $6000 stipend for living expenses over the 12-wk duration starting approximately May 18 (start and end dates are flexible). Qualifications and application instructions are at https://www.fridleylab.org/join-us. Deadline: March 20, 2026.
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Jason D. Fridley
Jason D. Fridley
Butterfly field tech positions
hiring butterfly field techs (March – Sept and Apr – Jun) by Elsa Youngsteadt (13 Feb 2026 09:55 EST)
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NCSU is hiring two temporary research technicians to assist with fieldwork, lab work, and data management for a study on the distribution and population density of the frosted elfin butterfly, a rare species proposed for listing as an endangered species.
Primary fieldwork duties will occur in Holly Shelter Game Land in Pender County North Carolina. Example field duties include surveying sites for frosted elfin butterfly presence and abundance; measuring habitat and environmental variables; observing and handling butterflies for demographic experiments and surveys. Example data management duties include data entry. The individuals in these positions may also contribute to outreach and communication activities related to the frosted elfin.
The first position (previously advertised) runs March 15 – Sept 15, with a Feb 18 application deadline. Lodging at the coast is provided in Hampstead, NC, from March 15-June 15. From June 15 to the end of the position, the duty station is NCSU main campus in Raleigh, NC, and the employee is responsible for their own lodging. Job posting: https://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/227155
The second position runs April 15 – June 15, with a Feb 23 application deadline. This position is located only at the coast with lodging provided in Hampstead, NC. Job posting: https://jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/227275
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Field assistant volunteer interns needed – Eurasian common lizard, Austria
Call for fieldwork volunteers for a field study of Eurasian common lizards, Austria, May-September 2026 by John Smout (13 Feb 2026 09:12 EST)
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Field assistant volunteer interns needed – Field study of the Eurasian common lizard, Zootoca vivipara
Research interns are needed to assist in an ongoing study of reproductive modes of the Eurasian common lizard, Zootoca vivipara.
Z. vivipara is a small insectivorous lizard with a broad palearctic distribution, with both oviparous and viviparous lineages extant in its European heartland. We study the ecology, behaviour and evolution of this fascinating species using a unique natural experiment site based in southern Austria. The project is organised by an international team of researchers based at the University of Glasgow (UK) and the University of Ljubljana (SI) led by Professor Kathryn Elmer at the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine in Glasgow.
Internships will run between May and September 2025. We are looking for interns who can commit for an extended period, usually 2-3 months. In your application, note what dates you will be available.
We are seeking interns with an interest in herpetology, ecology and/or evolution and who are very keen for gaining experience in the field. Duties will include assisting in all aspects of fieldwork at the site, including but not limited to collection of wild lizards by hand or lasso, recording and measurement, care and husbandry, assisting with experiments, driving to and from field sites and other locations, and contributing to communal camping and household tasks. Full training will be provided. There may also be opportunity for leading or contributing to your own project within the team.
Fieldwork is physically demanding and will take place outdoors in a remote rural location, with fieldworkers based at a commercial campsite for the duration. Interns must be comfortable with living and working collaboratively with others in a small group and long-term camping; maintaining good relations with the team and local community is essential.
All main expenses (food, camping/accommodation fees, and other) and travel costs up to intra-European value will be covered. Travel insurance will be provided including urgent medical care. We can welcome team members from anywhere in the world, but interns are responsible for securing their own Schengen visa in advance, if that is needed. Please contact us to discuss specifics. Interns should provide their own tent, bedding, and outdoor clothing and personal equipment suitable for an extended field season in all weathers.
Essential skills & experience:
· Some background knowledge of topics in herpetology, ecology and/or evolutionary biology
· Physically able and willing to work outdoors in challenging conditions (including inclement weather and traversing steep or boggy terrain)
· Meticulous attention to detail and organisational skills, including data entry and sample organisation
· Good interpersonal and team working skills
· Scientific literacy and numeracy and familiarity with experimental design
· Fluency in English
Additional desirable skills & experience:
· Academic qualification in a relevant biological discipline (BSc or equivalent)
· Experience of animal care and husbandry, particularly in reptiles
· Knowledge of/fluency in German (Italian and Slovenian also an advantage)
· Driver’s licence with significant driving experience
Applicants should send a cover letter (including aspects noted above) and CV along with the names and email addresses of two or more professional or academic references to: John.Smout@glasgow.ac.uk. Please mention on your application, if applicable, any prior experience working with lizards or other fieldwork experience.
Informal inquiries in advance of application are welcome.
Review of applications will begin 1 March 2026 and continue until a team is assembled; we plan on completing the decision by the end of March.
PhD position in the SNAIL lab at the University of Amsterdam
PhD position in the SNAIL lab at the University of Amsterdam by Naima Starkloff (13 Feb 2026 03:14 EST)
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Link: this PhD position
Hiring Field Technicians for Cave Monitoring in CA
Hiring Field Technicians for Cave Monitoring in CA by Amelia Weiss (12 Feb 2026 17:31 EST)
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The NPS Scientists in Parks program is recruiting 2 field technicians through AmeriCorps to assist with cave monitoring in Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California this summer. Responsibilities include deploying and retrieving data loggers, setting and checking invertebrate bait stations, conducting vegetation transects, data entry, and logistics. Housing is provided on site. These positions are ideal for seniors and recent graduates.
Start Date: May 18, 2026
End Date: October 5, 2026
End Date: October 5, 2026
Compensation: $600 weekly stipend, $450 relocation allowance, and $2,817.14 education award upon completion.
Application deadline: Feb 15, 2026
For more information and to apply, please visit:
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Amelia Weiss, Ph.D. (she/her)
Cave Scientist
Great Basin Institute
National Park Service, Klamath I&M Network
Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd
Ashland, OR 97520
Utah Forest Restoration Institute (UFRI) Seasonal Field Research Technicians
Job Description:
The Utah Forest Restoration Institute (UFRI) is hiring 8-12 seasonal positions, including research technicians (crew) and crew leads, to assist with forest & fire ecology research projects across the state of Utah. Based out of Utah State University, UFRI seeks to collaboratively develop and deliver objective science to managers, policymakers, and communities to inform the management of healthy, fire-resilient, and climate-adapted forests and woodlands. Crews will work on several projects throughout the summer, including work along the Wasatch front, the Uintas, and southern Utah. Field work will consist of collecting forestry, vegetation, and environmental data, assessing fuel conditions, and doing post-fire monitoring with the possibility of working in remote, steep, and rugged terrain under variable weather conditions.
Pay:
$16/hr for research technicians; $18/hr for crew leads
To apply:
The application requires a resume, cover letter, and contact information for three professional references. A full job description and application portal can be found here: https://careers-usu.icims.com/jobs/9906/job
Review of applications will begin 02/11/2026 and continue until all positions are filled.
Department of Wildland Resources
PhD position on ecosystem effects of large herbivores on the Eurasian steppes
The Department of Conservation Biology at the University of Göttingen seeks highly qualified and motivated candidates (m/f/d) for a
PhD position
on ecosystem effects of large herbivores on the Eurasian steppes.
with 65% of a full position. This position should be filled by 01 May 2026 and is initially available for three years. Salary: Pay grade E13 TV-L of the German system.
The successful candidate will contribute substantially to the project “Reconciling pastoralism, ecosystem functioning and biodiversity on the Kazakh steppe” (RePasKa), funded by the German Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) [final funding confirmation expected in February 2026] and the University of Göttingen. This project is implemented by a consortium of several partners, including close collaboration with the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK).
The PhD position will be co-supervised by international experts in the thematic area, Dr. Erick Lundgren (University of Alberta, Canada) and Jonas Trepel (University of Aarhus, Denmark).
The goals of the project are to i) disentangle the impact of wild, (re)introduced and native herbivores on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, ii) to link foraging behaviour of different wild and domestic ungulates to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, iii) predict ecosystem responses to changing grazing systems on the steppe of Kazakhstan in a period of intense human-wildlife interactions.
Your tasks include:
To conduct a structured meta-analysis of published evidence; To support the set-up of livestock and Saiga antelope exclosures in the steppes and semi-deserts of Kazakhstan; To coordinate the sampling of biodiversity (incl. dung beetles, Orthoptera and plants) and ecosystem properties (biomass, carbon stocks) in Kazakhstan; To synthesize and analyse the collected datasets and publish peer-review papers; To coordinate field tandem teams of German and Kazakhstani undergraduates.
We are looking for a highly motivated, open-minded person with the following background and qualifications:
MSc in Landscape Ecology, Environmental Sciences, Biology, Zoology, Geography, or similarly relevant fields of study; Strong quantitative background, advanced skills in R or similar languages; Strong theoretical and applied background in ecology or global change biology; Experience with the analysis of larger datasets; Species knowledge, ecological knowledge and sampling/surveying experience of invertebrates; Excellent communication skills, very good English language skills in written and spoken form, confident public appearance; Awareness of the importance of participation, diversity, and equal opportunities.
In addition, the following skills and experiences are advantages:
Previous experience with meta-analysis; Knowledge of grazing ecology in arid landscapes and/or human-wildlife conflict; Kazakh or Russian language skills; Previous fieldwork in remote areas and off-road driving skills.
We offer close integration into the young and international teams of project partners and supervisors. Göttingen is a medium-sized university town with a high quality of life. The renowned University of Göttingen offers excellent networking opportunities in the three “green” faculties of Biology, Agricultural Sciences, and Forestry.
The University of Göttingen is an equal opportunities employer and places particular emphasis on fostering career opportunities for women. Qualified women are therefore strongly encouraged to apply in fields in which they are underrepresented. The university has committed itself to being a family-friendly institution and supports their employees in balancing work and family life. The university is particularly committed to the professional participation of severely disabled employees and therefore welcomes applications from severely disabled people. In the case of equal qualifications, applications from people with severe disabilities will be given preference. A disability or equality is to be included in the application in order to protect the interests of the applicant.
Please send your application as a combined pdf file to Ms. Andrea Lambertz (alamber@gwdg.de) by the application deadline on 28th February 2026, consisting of:
Copies of academic certificates; A motivation letter including relevant experiences; CV, incl. a publication list, if applicable; A short writing example, e.g. a part of a MSc thesis; Contact details of two persons willing to provide a reference.
For inquiries about the job posting, please contact Prof. Johannes Kamp (johannes.kamp@uni-goettingen.de).
— Prof. Dr. Johannes Kamp Department of Conservation Biology University of Göttingen Bürgerstr. 50, room 1.114 37073 Göttingen Germany phone: ++49 (0)551 39 25207 web:https://www.uni-goettingen.de/conservation
PhD Positions in Water Quality/Stream Biogeochemistry
The Speir Lab at the University of Arkansas is hiring 1-2 PhD students for a summer start! We are looking for folks specifically with a background in water quality, aquatic biogeochemistry, stream ecology, or a similar aquatic-related field.
The selected candidate(s) will either be working on the Arkansas Discovery Watershed Program (ADW) or the impacts of switching from conventional fertilizer to biochard amended poutlry litter on water quality. The specific focus will be determined based on the Speir Lab’s needs and the student’s interests, but may include varying nutrients (N vs. P) or sediments, time scales, and spatial scales, as well as a combination of both experimental and field studies.
Students in the Speir Lab receive extensive training in water chemistry analysis, foundational stream ecology methods, and scicomm. We also conduct regular year-round field work (~1-2x per week – even when it’s cold, raining, etc!). Students will attend conferences to present their work.
Critical Requirements: Must be able to start in late May or beginning of June and be a U.S. citizen (per the granting agency requirements). Additionally, please be aware that the CSES department requires all doctoral students to have a master’s degree conferred before beginning a PhD.
If you are interested and meet the requirements detailed above, please contact Dr. Shannon Speir (slspeir@uark.edu) prior to applying to discuss your fit with the lab. Include a detailed description of your past research experience (if applicable), why you’d like to join the lab, and your curriculum vitae/resume. For more info about the lab, visit https://speirlab.weebly.com/.
Paid undergraduate plant ecology research experience at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve
The Isbell Biodiversity Lab at the University of Minnesota is hiring a team of 5 undergraduate and post-baccalaureate research interns to assist with ecological field work at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve located in East Bethel, MN. The intern team will work together to collect data and perform experimental maintenance in multiple ongoing and new field experiments at Cedar Creek. The Isbell lab has several ecological research projects that consider the effects of global environmental changes (e.g. habitat loss and fragmentation, nutrient enrichment, climate change, exotic species invasions) on grassland plant communities, biodiversity and ecosystems. Interns also have the opportunity to participate in a research program at Cedar Creek, involving a group research project, workshops, seminars, and career panels, offering excellent opportunities to grow as a scientist. Positions begin in June and last through August/September (flexible on dates).
Please share this paid research internship opportunity for Summer 2026 with undergraduate students in your departments and classes! Please search job code #371979 on the U of M job site for more information and to apply.
Application Deadline – February 20th, 2026