Tsaobis Baboon Project – Field Assistants Internship

The Tsaobis Baboon Project is a long-term study of desert baboons in Namibia.  Based at the Institute of Zoology (the research arm of the Zoological Society of London), and affiliated with the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre (Namibia), our aim is to carry out fundamental research in behavioural ecology and population ecology, and to inform conservation policy and practice for social species.

We are seeking to appoint up to six volunteer fieldworkers for the 2013 field season, which will run from early May to late October. Two positions will run the full six-month field season (approx. May - October), while the remaining posts will be divided evenly between the first and last three-month periods. The fieldwork will primarily involve daily follows of baboon troops on foot, collecting behavioural data from individually recognisable animals and their associated ecological conditions. Research in 2013 will be focused on the following two themes:

• Behavioural plasticity and the fitness effects of social information use;

• Sexual conflicts over reproduction in social groups.

Since fieldworkers will be split equally between these themes, applicants should either express a preference, or state “no preference”. Further information about the research project, the volunteer fieldworker positions, and the application procedure can be found on the Project’s webpages: www.zsl.org/tsaobisbaboonproject

The deadline for applications is 9am Monday 7th January 2013

Interviews will be held at the Institute of Zoology on Monday 14^th and Tuesday 15^th January 2013. Telephone / Skype interviews will be possible for overseas applicants.