A field assistant is needed to aid the Gola Forest Programme’s Research and Monitoring department in undertaking a study examining the effects of seed-dispersal by Diana monkeys on forest regeneration in the Gola Forest Reserves, Sierra Leone. The Gola Forest Programme (GFP) is a partnership between the government of Sierra Leone, the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The GFP is responsible for among other things, biodiversity conservation of the Gola Forest Reserves.
The Programme is based in Kenema, which is the third largest city in Sierra Leone and a 5 hr drive from Freetown.
The field assistant will be based at our sub-station in Gola East, 'SILETI' (which is a 2 hr drive from Kenema). The field assistant will be responsible for:
1)Collecting dietary data on habituated Diana monkeys. This will be accomplished by employing both behavioural observations and by examining fecal samples.
2)Collecting Diana monkey fecal samples to identify fruit seed characteristics
3)Monitoring Diana monkey fecal piles in the forest to document seedling germination
4)Measuring various ecological variables and characteristics of microhabitats in the monkeys’ range
5)Collecting baseline information on the group (GPS location, etc..)
6) Maintaining and updating a reference collection of foods in the monkeys’ dietary repertoire using photography and plant pressing
7)Computerizing data
8)Working and training field technician staff of the Gola Forest Programme
9)Writing bimonthly reports
10)Other activities as required by the project
The field assistant will be managed by the head of the Research Department of the Gola Forest Programme and will liaise directly with this person. Weekly phone calls to give updates on the project are required, and visits by the head of Research to SILETI to oversee the work will be monthly.
Working hours: 7:00 am to 4:00 pm in the field, 5-6 days/week. There will be added work back at the research station (working on plant reference collections, sieving fecal samples, data entry, etc..). Working hours and locations (field or research station) will likely evolve as the study progresses.
The work is long and intense and requires a dedicated person; it is an ideal position for someone interested in gaining experience prior to graduate school. The monkey’s home range is very close to the field station, and it is relatively small, so this will minimize hours of walking to and from the monkeys’ on a daily basis.
Much of the work has an ecological component, rather than primatological and a large chunk of time will be dedicated to collecting botanical and other ecological data, rather than ‘monkey watching’, all day although behavioural observations of the Diana monkeys will make up a component of the work. Term of Appointment: early January 2010- end of June 2010 (6 months)
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