Post: TCV Natural Talent Traineeship - Species Discovery, Empowered Communities and the Edinburgh Shoreline

Bursary:£13,500

Location:Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh

Mentors:Sally Eaton (Edinbugh),

Dr Hannah Grist (Scottish Association for Marine Science)

Duration:12 months

Start date:3rdApril 2017

Closing date for Applications:9th March 2017

Thank you for your interest in the Natural Talent UK traineeship scheme. This scheme is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

How to apply

Full details on how to apply and application forms can be found at

Please read through this traineeship description thoroughly, completing an application form (available on request or on-line and to download) showing how you meet the criteria outlined in the Skills & Experience section and any other information you feel is relevant.

Project background

Natural Talent UK aims to increase expertise across the whole of the UK to protect our less well known species and create awareness of the habitats that supports them. The programme responds to identified skills shortages in the conservation sector by providing trainees with the opportunity to develop an expertise in a specific taxonomic group, habitat or a mixture of both. Natural Talent UK will also increase the capacity of volunteers and communities to play an active role in surveying, mapping and taking an action to increase the biodiversity value of their local places.

The aim of this traineeship is to rejuvenate understanding and appreciation of the Edinburgh coastal fringe as a biodiverse natural landscape with huge latent potential for improvement that will contribute importantly to the health and wellbeing of the city’s residents. In doing so, it provides an opportunity to engage the public in a wider debate about the future of the coastal fringe, and particularly its role in issues such as pollution, non-native invasive species, climate change resilience and planning.

The project will address at least five of the TCV’s identified UK skills shortages:

1. It will provide advanced training in identification for coastal ‘cryptogamic’ species (lower plants), including lichens, bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) and seaweeds (algae). RBGE and SAMS have world-class expertise in each of these groups.

2. The trainees will undertake ecological survey along the 27km shoreline transect, to map the target.

3. The trainees will be embedded within an existing Edinburgh Living Landscape (ELL) ‘Shoreline’ project, and this includes monitoring the artificial creation of new habitat (shoreline tiles), and engaging with intertidal habitat creation, restoration, management and education in coastal environments.

4. Through its scope and ambition, the project addresses a skills shortage related to the landscape-scale approach, applying cross-community activities to encourage a less fragmented planning for the future.

5. Through engagement with SAMS the project will contribute to raising awareness of invasive species (non-native seaweeds) in the Forth estuary.

The trainee will be based primary at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, for their training in bryophytes, lichens and for practical project delivery along the Edinburgh shoreline. Additionally, the trainee will have a secondment to SAMS where they will develop high level identification skills in seaweeds, participate in Capturing Our Coast (CoCoast) training in public engagement and gain an understanding of research undertaken at the Laurence Mee Centre for Society and the Sea.

The trainee will also spend time at The Wildlife Information Centre learning about UK biological recording, digital recording tools for public engagement and to encourage members of the public to submit data and will participate in skills training workshops. The project will be monitored by RBGE by applying and building on a Framework to Evaluate Impact being developed currently as part of our NERC funded coastal work

Person specification

ESSENTIAL / DESIRABLE
Qualifications:
No formal qualifications necessary although candidates will have to demonstrate knowledge of some aspect of the natural environment and their enthusiasm for the traineeship / A passion and enthusiasm for natural history and protecting and conserving our natural environment
Experience:
An understanding of Scottish habitats and conservation issues.
An interest in botany and general understanding of taxonomy. / General field surveying techniques for plants or coastal species
A deeper understanding of one or more taxonomic groups.
Skills :
Applicants must have a good working knowledge of basic IT software packages (e.g. MS Office).
Applicants must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, being able to work as part of a small team.
Applicants must have strong writing and analytical skills. / Be comfortable with the use of identification keys, using microscopes and identifying specimens to species level
Have experience of creating and running Access databases would be very beneficial
  • Experience of working outdoors (e.g. on a nature conservation project)

Personal Qualities:
Applicants will have to demonstrate that they have the dedication and commitment to work on their own initiative to complete the traineeship to a high standard.
Be willing to undertake various tasks including microscopy, data processing and fieldwork.
Being flexible about early starts and being away undertaking fieldwork from time to time.
Other:
Although some natural history knowledge is preferable, motivation, enthusiasm, excellent communication skills and drive are the most important qualities in a potential applicant. / Some experience of engaging others with nature and experience of participating in Citizen science activities
A full, clean driving license