Gibbon Behaviour Field Intern

Gibbon Behaviour Field Intern

The OuTrop Gibbon Behaviour Research Project began in 2005, initiating the first long-term study of these small apes inBorneo. You will be working closely with our international team of researchers monitoring the behavioural ecology of habituated groups of gibbons, as well as surveying and habituating to human presence unhabituated groups to increase our knowledge of ranging, demography and inter-group interactions. As the Gibbon Field Intern, you will be getting up before dawn to reach the location of the apes’ sleeping tree, and following the group to record extensive behavioural data until their next sleeping tree. On searching days, you will enter the forest at dawn and search as part of a team for targeted gibbon groups to collect ranging and demography data. Full training of data collection methods and use of GPS units will be provided in the field.

OuTrop is a not-for-profit research and conservation organisation that works in the internationally-renownedSabangauForest; the largest area of lowland forest remaining in Indonesian Borneo and home to the largest population of orangutans in the world. Since 1999, we have been working in collaboration with our Indonesian partners, CIMTROP, and local communities to conserve this important forest through protection, restoration and regeneration initiatives. This is achieved through three important avenues: (i) conservation-orientated research, providing important information for, and training to, local conservation practitioners; (ii) encouraging and supporting locally-led conservation initiatives, via the provision of funds, expertise, international and media contacts, and logistical support; and (iii) capacity building and information dissemination, including to local villages, scientists, government and NGOs, and international scientific and conservation communities.

The conservation work that we support includes damming illegal logging canals, fighting fires, patrolling the forest to prevent illegal activities and working with the local village community to increase their support for conservation. Our research work is targeted towards providing information to inform management and policy decisions, and includes assessing the impacts of human threats and conservation initiatives on biodiversity and our flagship conservation species, and developing and refining methods to restore and regenerate degraded and deforested areas.  

As a dynamic and growing conservation organisation, we offer internships with specific roles working on our field research projects. Interns are required for periods of six months and will be based near Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan in the Natural Laboratory of Peat-swamp Forest; a 50,000 hectare area of forest where we conduct our research. The base camp here is well established with over 80 km of forest transects and many long-term forest plots. Interns will either work on a number of different projects or be assigned specific projects depending on experience, skills and our requirements. Interns may also be expected to assist with project logistics, reporting and with our volunteer programme, as required, and to provide regular contributions towards our outreach communications (e.g., monthly blog posts).

OuTrop’s research activities include:

• Monthly surveys of forest fruiting and flowering patterns and forest productivity
• Monthly surveys of orangutan nest density
• Monitoring forest plots
• Annual surveys of gibbon density
• Orangutan behaviour research
• Gibbon behaviour research
• Red langur behaviour research
• Camera trapping to assess populations of felids and their prey
• Biodiversity surveys, including birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, to improve our understanding of the value of the area for biodiversity conservation and isolate indicators of forest disturbance for monitoring
• Regeneration studies; collection of seeds and seedlings; nursery maintenance, transplanting and monitoring of transplanted seedlings
• Monitoring of water levels and flow-rates in canals
• Week-long visits to remote monitoring sites to collect data on primate density, other fauna and forest structure
• Primate population density surveys

Requirements:

Interns must be available for a six-month period. At the end of six months there may be the opportunity to stay for longer. Applicants must be physically and mentally fit and able to handle the challenges of field work, including working long days with very early starts and late finishes (10-15 hour days are common for full-day primate follows, with interns generally expected to conduct up to three full-day follows back to back), uneven and flooded terrain, abundant insect pests, tropical weather (high rainfall, temperature and humidity) and basic living conditions. Interns will be expected to work at least 20 days in the field each month, over a typical 5-6 day working week.

We are a small team working in a remote region based in a camp with limited privacy; all rooms are shared and personal space is limited.Indonesiais a developing country and delays, complicated bureaucratic procedures and last-minute changes of plan are an unavoidable part of working here.Indonesiais also culturally very different from the western world, health care is more basic, and the diet is often delicious but also more monotonous (mostly rice, noodles and vegetables – even for breakfast! – with some meat and fish). Interns must therefore be good team players, energetic, highly motivated, flexible, patient and willing to assist in all aspects of the project.

Applicants should complete an application form and supply a recent CV. Short-listed candidates will then be invited for interview. Relevant experience for the internship(s) you are applying for is preferred, although not essential if suitable skills are identified. Interns with a long-term interest in pursuing careers related to the topic of the internship are preferred.

Interns must be able to pay a contribution to cover their living and other costs on the Project, which includes a £210 deposit payable upon acceptance, followed by a set fee of £325 per calendar month for the duration of the internship. This includes all food and drinks at base camp, accommodation at camp and in Palangka Raya, and work-related travel between town and field sites inKalimantan. Interns will need to cover the cost of their flights to and from Palangka Raya, all personal equipment, travel insurance, the cost of an Indonesian visa in their home country and personal spending costs. We encourage selected interns to seek funding to cover their costs and, if secured, to contribute up to £250 per month in addition as a contribution to the conservation work of our Indonesian partners.

Please note: The Indonesian Research Permit application process is lengthy and complicated. It generally takes a minimum of two months and occasionally three months or more to get successful applicants out to Indonesia, so please factor this is when considering your availability.

Applications must include a fully completed application form and CV, and should be emailed to info@outrop.com by 29^th August 2013, with the position title as the email subject heading. Interviews for short-listed candidates are expected to be held in early September 2013.