Research Assistant

About the Role

The Valente Biodiversity Conservation Lab at Auburn University is hiring a 1-year research assistant (October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027) to support ongoing data collection, management, and analysis. This role is within the College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR). The project aims to help ADCNR understand the impacts of historical management activities on Alabama’s wildlife populations and inform future habitat management approaches on state lands. Fieldwork is largely complete, and the focus will be on equipment maintenance, data organization, processing, analysis, and report/manuscript preparation.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain field and lab equipment.
• Coordinate all aspects of data management, including data entry, proofing, formatting, and analysis.
• Participate in field-based sampling efforts for birds, mammals, and vegetation as necessary.
• Ensure field vehicles are maintained.
• Acquire and maintain GIS databases.
• Disseminate project information through reports, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and presentations.
• Process remotely recorded data, including camera images and acoustic files.
• Document protocols.
• Gather and organize publicly available datasets for integration into analyses.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Bachelor's degree in Wildlife, Biology, Ecology, Forestry, or a closely related field.
• Experience requirements vary by level:
• Level I: Bachelor's degree.
• Level II: Bachelor's degree and 2 years of experience in research practices and protocols.
• Level III: Bachelor's degree and 4 years of experience in research practices and protocols.
• Level IV: Bachelor's degree and 6 years of experience in research practices and protocols.
• Substitutions: Additional appropriate education may be applied toward the experience requirement at a rate of one year of relevant education per year of required experience.
• Job-related licensure may be required for specific positions.

Qualifications (General)

• Experience in research practices and protocols.
• Familiarity with data management, data entry, proofing, formatting, and analysis.
• Ability to maintain field and lab equipment.
• Experience with field-based sampling efforts (birds, mammals, vegetation) is beneficial.
• Skills in maintaining vehicles.
• Experience with GIS databases.
• Experience in preparing reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
• Experience processing camera images and acoustic files.
• Ability to document protocols.
• Experience gathering and organizing publicly available datasets.