Natural Talent Apprenticeship - Soil Ecology . based in Thurso, Caithness

Job title - Natural Talent Apprenticeship - Soil Ecology . based in Thurso, Caithness

Salary: £12,511.44

The Conservation Volunteers is the UK’s leading practical conservation charity working with people from all sectors of the community in positive action to improve the environment.

Peatlands only cover 3% of global land area, but store about a third of the world soil’s carbon. The Flow Country in Scotland is the largest expanse of blanket bogs in Europe and represents the most important soil carbon store in the UK. It is increasingly threatened by land-use pressure and climate change, which could turn the bogs from sink to source of carbon and feedback to the global carbon cycle and climate. Drainage and forestry plantation during the 1980s caused disturbances to large areas of deep peat blanket bog in the Flow Country, and since the late 1990s, some of these plantations have been restored by RSPB and others, by felling trees and blocking drains. Monitoring and assessing how peatlands are responding to these changes is a both a challenge, and a priority.

Peatlands host a diverse microbial community, dominated by testate amoebae (TA). TA are a group of large (>500 microns) unicellular eukaryotic microorganisms that lie at the top of the microbial food-web, and that are characterized by a hard shell (test) which is resistant to decay and remains in sub-surface peats. Their abundance, trophic position and characteristic test make TA ideal indicator organisms to study the impacts of recent and historical environmental change on biodiversity and ecosystem function in bogs, but require specialized taxonomical training.

We seek an apprentice to support a project assessing how climate and land uses changes alter TA community composition and testing the hypothesis that multiple disturbances lead to irreversible community disassembly. The apprentice will learn about the taxonomy and ecology of testate amoeba and bryophytes in blanket bogs. He/she will be trained to collect samples in the field, to identify mosses and other peatland plants, to extract and identify testate amoebae using microscopic characters and will be trained in the use of a scanning electron microscope.

Please read the application pack thoroughly, including the FULL JOB DESCRIPTION, completing the application form (available on line and to download) showing how you meet the essential and desirable criteria outlined in the Job Description.

This is a 12 month apprenticeship, based at the Environmental Research Institute in Thurso, http://www.eri.ac.uk/. Relocation to a remote part of Scotland may be necessary.

A full driving licence is required

This post is subject to a basic CRB check.

35 hours per week

Closing date for completed applications is 21/07/13