Project Research Assistant – Indicators & Assessments Unit

Full time for 7 months

ZSL Salary Scale 7.0 (£22,296 including LW)

Project background

The current set of indicators as provided by the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program lacks a nature indicator which monitors overall biodiversity and ecosystem health in Canada. The requirements for such an indicator are that it is developed using a rigorous method, using high quality data that is regularly updated. One option that has been reliably tested at the global, regional and national level is the Living Planet Index (LPI). This option has the advantages of a robust and peer-reviewed method, readily available data and a final indicator that is sensitive to annual changes and is easy to communicate to a range of audiences. The application of the LPI method to produce a Canadian Species Index (CSI) could be a solution to providing the missing indicator on biodiversity trends and ecosystem health. However, this approach must first be assessed for its suitability as a national indicator for Canada. This project was started in January 2014 and the task for this role for theproject research assistant will be to continue and complete thework for the remaining 7 months of the project.

Outline of role

This Project Research Assistant post is a 7 month full time position based in the Indicators and Assessments Unit at the Institute of Zoology starting in August 2014. The objective of this post is to bring together existing data from the Living Planet Database and compile further data on change in abundance of Canadian species, to analyse the data and produce a national species index for Canada. The project will end with the completion of a final report in February 2015 which includes the final set of results, discussion and recommendations for future data collection and analysis. The candidate will be supervised by the LPI Project Manager and will workclosely with oneother member of staff and an intern in the Indicators and Assessments Unit.

Responsibilities will include:

  • Collateexisting data in the Living Planet Database on from Canada and identify key gaps to be targeted and additional information to be collected.
  • Oversee and carry out additional data entry as required
  • Analysis of the data at the end of the collection period to produce a set of aggregated species trend indices, an exploration of data caveats and new depictions of trend data.
  • GIS outputs of data distribution, overlaid with habitat, political or threat layers if appropriate.
  • Prepare report of findings and recommendations
  • Finalise report after review process