Seabird Research Assistant

About Audubon

The National Audubon Society is a leading nonprofit conservation organization with 120 years of science-based, community-driven impact, dedicated to protecting birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Birds are powerful indicators of our planet's health, acting as sentinels that warn us of environmental change and inspire action. Audubon works across the Western Hemisphere, driven by the understanding that what is good for birds is good for the planet.

Through a collaborative, bipartisan approach across habitats, borders, and the political spectrum, Audubon drives meaningful and lasting conservation outcomes. With 800 staff and over 1.9 million supporters, Audubon is a dynamic and ever-growing force committed to ensuring a better planet for both birds and people for generations to come. Learn more ubon.org and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety.

Audubon's Seabird Institute manages seven island research stations off the coast of Maine that support breeding colonies of Arctic, Common, Roseate, and Least Terns, Atlantic Puffins, Black Guillemots, Razorbills, Laughing Gulls, Common Eiders, Leach's Storm-Petrels, and wading birds (study species vary by island). Seasonal field teams live and work on each island for the duration of the field season. Work includes, but is not limited to: monitoring seabird populations, productivity, and growth;

conducting seabird diet studies; banding and resighting birds; removing invasive vegetation; educating island visitors; assisting with predator management; data entry and proofing; and camp maintenance. Island field stations have a cabin or wall tent that serves as the base of field activity, limited electricity (solar panels power research needs), propane stoves, composting toilets, and no running water (rainwater is collected for washing;

drinking water is brought from the mainland). Field team members sleep in their own tents. Communications with the mainland are via cell or VOIP phone, depending on location, with VHF radios as back-up. Island field teams consist of 2 to 5 people (depending on island and time of year) and are led by the Island Supervisor. All field team members participate in seabird monitoring and camp maintenance duties.

For the welfare of the birds, field work is highly weather-dependent.

Island work schedule and daily duties are determined by the Island Supervisor, following established work plans and procedures. Daily schedules will vary based on weather (no entry into the seabird colony is permitted during inclement weather to protect the nesting terns) and time of the nesting season. Daily activities may include the following: island-wide morning bird count; collection of weather data three times per day;

one to two 3-hour-long observation stints in the observation blinds for data collection; seabird trapping and banding; productivity monitoring; trail maintenance; invasive plant removal; predator control; computer data entry; daily journal log entries; and maintenance of camp facilities.

Following a brief orientation period on the mainland (shared housing provided), field teams will spend the entire field season living on-island. At inshore field sites (less than 2 miles from the mainland), teams will have a small motorboat and may have the ability to go ashore for food and supplies for the field station, approximately every 2 weeks. On offshore islands (more than 5 miles from the mainland), food and supplies will be delivered approximately every 3 weeks.

• Length of Assignment:
  Positions start between May 1 and May 27 and end between August 15 and September 18, depending on site.
• Hours:
  
  35 hours a week
• Location:
  
  This role is on-site, based out of the Maine Summer Seabird Restoration Program, in Bremen, ME.

$19.00 / hour

• Participate in seabird studies as scheduled by the Island Supervisor, which may include, but are not limited to: bird trapping, banding, and resighting; observations from blinds; conducting seabird diet studies; conducting nest censuses; monitoring productivity and growth of chicks; computer data entry; blood or specimen collection; vegetation management; predator monitoring and control.
• Use binoculars and spotting scopes to aid in the collection of data as specified by the Island Supervisor.
• Perform 3-hour-long observation stints in small wooden observation blinds overlooking seabird nests.
• Accurately and neatly record data on specified data sheets.
• Enter and proof data in computer databases.
• Protect the seabird colony from human disturbance.
• Conduct predator management or control as necessary under the direction of the Island Supervisor.
• Maintain field equipment and facilities.
• Conduct trail maintenance and invasive plant removal.
• Assist Island Supervisor with landing of equipment and new personnel on the island.
• Operate power and/or row boats under guidance of Island Supervisor. Use…