Researcher

Project and role

Research responsibilities

• Integrate, clean, and manage datasets covering telomeres, growth, physiology, behaviour, movement, and survival; match individual records across aviaries, rings, GPS transmitters, and sampling times.
• Analyse early-life conditions, phenotypic traits, post-release performance, GPS tracking, accelerometry, dispersal, habitat use, activity, and survival.
• Evaluate behavioural traits, including Flight Initiation Distance and behavioural consistency, and compare wild-sourced with captive-origin birds.
• Investigate links among personality, stress indicators, movement, survival, sex, origin, and developmental history.
• Analyse telomere length and attrition, including repeated qPCR measurements, and examine links with growth, health, feather corticosterone, and other physiological indicators.
• Apply mixed-effects models, movement modelling, and survival analysis; compare developmental, behavioural, physiological, and survival patterns by origin.
• Prepare peer-reviewed manuscripts, technical reports, and conservation recommendations; collaborate on hypotheses and interpretation and present findings to stakeholders, management, and conferences.

Required qualifications

• PhD in Ecology, Conservation Biology, Zoology, Animal Behaviour, Animal Physiology, or a closely related discipline.
• Strong quantitative ecology, ecological statistics, and scientific data analysis background; advanced proficiency in R and/or Python.
• Demonstrated experience with mixed-effects models, survival analysis, animal movement data, and large, complex, multi-source ecological datasets.
• Strong peer-reviewed publication record, analytical ability, scientific writing, and communication skills.
• Able to work independently, manage research priorities, and collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams.

Preferred qualifications

• Research experience in telomere dynamics, molecular biomarkers, or physiological stress indicators; GPS telemetry, accelerometry, or wildlife tracking analysis.
• Knowledge of animal personality, behavioural ecology, and life-history strategies.
• Experience in conservation breeding, wildlife translocation, reintroduction, post-release monitoring, or avian conservation research.
• Ability to translate complex scientific findings into practical conservation recommendations.