RA Insect-Habitat Relationahips – M. Akresh [Work-Study]

Start Date: 5/9/22
End Date: 5/3/22
Number of Positions: 4
Hours per Week: 10
Weekends Required: sometimes
Evenings Required:  sometimes

Supervisor:  Michael Akresh

This position allows for remote work Yes/No:  Yes

Percentage of time that could be remote (0-100%):  75%

Method to assess remote work: Supervisor will be in weekly communication with the students to monitor that the work is being completed. The supervisor will be checking that the data is being collected and entered. Additionally, some of the work will be done with the supervisor. One outcome will be a collection of pinned and labelled insects (e.g., bees, moths) or photographed insects. A second outcome will be completed datasets (e.g., vegetation, bees, moths, ants, etc.). The students will learn how to conduct research on insects and improve their data management skills

Description

Assistants are needed to help with ongoing research on insect-habitat relationships in forests in the Northeastern USA. The research assistants will work with AUNE faculty and other collaborators. Field work will entail conducting bee and vegetation surveys in New Hampshire, with some additional work doing moth, ant, and other insect surveys (20 hours/wk). Lab work will entail pinning insect specimens (including bees and moths), photographing moths from trap samples, and identifying insects to species (10 hours/wk). Additional work includes organizing and managing collected data (e.g., taking pictures of collected insects and uploading these pictures to iNaturalist, organizing data in Excel), writing up summary reports, and potentially assisting with GIS and statistical analyses on the data (10 hours/week).

Qualifications

• Interest in research that focuses on insect communities • Excellent attention to detail • Excellent data management and organizational skills • Excellent communication skills • Quantitative skills; ability to use Excel, and some familiarity and experience with using R and ArcGIS would be an added benefit • Federal work study funds

How to Apply: Send a short cover letter of interest and your CV to Mike Akresh.

Email:  [email protected]

Position Type: Work-Study
Department: Environmental Studies