Job Opportunity: SE NABat Hub Coordinator: South Carolina

Position: Southeastern Bat Hub Coordinator

Location: Clemson, SC

Term: 2 years with possible extension

Start Date: April, 2022

Closing Date: March 9

Salary: $54,000 Year 1, $58,000 Year 2 plus health insurance and other benefits.

Essential Functions:

The Southeastern (SE) Bat Hub includes the land areas of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The objectives of the SE Bat Hub are to coordinate existing partners and bring in new partners to: (1) increase efficiencies of standardized bat population monitoring data collection and maximize data collection and timely data delivery for NABat priority cells; (2) establish a central data management and processing center for the southeast region; (3) ensure consistent manual vetting of acoustic bat calls across the Southeast region; (4) ensure long-term sustainability of NABat across the region; (5) assist SE partners with data calls from state and federal agencies for species recovery and classification assessments; and (6) provide data for use in State Wildlife Action Plans and regional assessments.

Responsibilities

· Program management, including the implementation or supervision of field work, and building and fostering effective collaborations to execute work.

· Writing proposals and grants, managing program budgets, tracking program deliverables.

· Engage with existing partners and volunteers to ensure continued support and participation in NABat.

· Identify and engage new NABat partners and volunteers where appropriate.

· Serve as a resource to answer questions and provide information about the SE Bat Hub and NABat to SE states and other partners not currently participating in NABat monitoring.

· Work with new partners to assist them in setting up NABat monitoring stations on their properties, including providing training or making them aware of other training opportunities.

· Actively lead and participate in the National Coordinator’s Network and NABat Community of Practice, including close collaboration with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) coordination team in Fort Collins and other hub coordinators around the U.S. and Canada to develop and refine report formats, advocate for Southeast database needs and functionality, and disseminate updates to SE Bat Hub partners.

· Manage, process, and share data in accordance with NABat standards and conventions, assisting partners in promoting bat conservation and recovery across the Southeast through presentations at professional meetings and to members of the public, work with principal investigators and other partners.

· Develop and implement a long-term funding strategy for the SE Bat Hub.

· Promote outreach and establish and maintain a SE Bat Hub website and data portal.

Working Conditions and Physical Effort

· Willingness to work flexible schedule to meet field/reporting deadlines when needed.

· Moderate field work anticipated during summer and winter.

· Ability to independently travel to and hike to remote field locations for monitoring hardware deployment, and non-standard schedules when conducting field work.

· Relocation and physical presence to Clemson, South Carolina is encouraged.

· Demanding but supportive working conditions.

· Overnight travel required for field work, training, and meetings.

Desired Experience and Qualifications

· M.S. or Ph.D. in biology, ecology, natural resources, wildlife biology, or related field.

· Proficiency in experimental design, data collection, and data management.

· Ability to manage complex projects with multiple working components.

· Ability and interest in developing and writing funding proposals.

· Ability to lead training on NABat protocols including acoustic monitoring and summer and winter colony counts.

· Excellent organizational and time management skills.

· Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work with a diverse group of partners across state, federal, local, and tribal agencies as well as academics, members of the public, and NGOs.

· Strong initiative and decision-making skills; detail oriented and self-motivated.

· Proficiency in data analysis and visualization, experience using R, GIS and other tools such as Python, and experience in web design.

· Ability to create reports for partners and funders, present results of analyses at professional meetings, and publish results if appropriate.

· Willingness to communicate on a regular basis with principal investigators.

· Proficiency with bat field-based monitoring and NABat preferable, both colony census methods and acoustic monitoring hardware and software, including manual vetting of bat acoustic calls.

How To Apply

Send cover letter detailing your knowledge, skills, and experiences that make you a strong candidate for the position, a CV, and a list of 3 references and their contact information as one PDF to: Susan Loeb at susan.loeb@usda.gov.