Senior Terrestrial Ecologist

This position is a part of the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).

This position has a term length of 1 year plus 1 day and offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed on our Benefits Overview page .

Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in person work, with the in person component taking place at North Campus Edmonton.

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.

The University of Alberta is teeming with change makers, community builders, and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to more than 40,000 students in 200+ undergraduate and 500+ graduate programs, over 13,000 faculty and staff, 260,000 alumni worldwide and have been recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for over a decade.

Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross section of people—from our students and stakeholders, to our renowned researchers and innovators who are quite literally curing diseases, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger, and more just.

The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) detects large changes in biodiversity in Alberta with the annually updated Biodiversity Intactness Index and Human Footprint Inventory. This research provides ongoing, relevant, scientifically credible information on Alberta's living resources to meet the information needs of government planners, industrial developers and local communities.

The Senior Terrestrial Ecologist works in ABMI’s Science Centre and leads the development, implementation, and management of terrestrial biodiversity science programming that supports ABMI’s goals for enhancing environmental monitoring and reporting across Alberta.  This includes leading program design, data analyses, and reporting in active collaboration with multiple partners, including the broader academic community, government (federal, provincial and municipal), environmental non-government organizations, Indigenous communities, and industry representatives from the natural resource sector.

At the University of Alberta, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible hiring process for all candidates. If you require accommodations to participate in the interview process, please let us know at the time of booking your interview and we will make every effort to accommodate your needs.

1.       Client Liaison and Market Development

Leads and facilitates the development of terrestrial biodiversity monitoring initiatives as they support the ABMI’s strategic priorities.

·         Engages with partners, collaborators, and clients in dialogue about the potential benefits of products and services produced by the ABMI’s terrestrial biodiversity monitoring team to better understand sector-specific information needs;

·         Develops relationships with clients and provides feedback related to the status of terrestrial biodiversity monitoring programs;

·         Establishes, fosters, and maintains relationships with ABMI staff across multiple centres to ensure working knowledge and continued advancement of ABMI terrestrial science and information management initiatives; and

·         Establishes, fosters, and maintains new and existing relationships with stakeholders including academics, government, industry, and non-government organizations interested in using ABMI information or collaborating on the delivery of ABMI’s terrestrial programs.

2.       Leadership and Management

Provides leadership and expertise related to the creation and delivery of ABMI terrestrial programs, including strategic vision, design, data collection, and analysis.  

·         Coordinates work planning, budgets, and management meetings related to terrestrial biodiversity monitoring programs and supports strategic discussions regarding these programs;

·         Coordinates ABMI’s relationship with major stakeholders that use and/or fund ABMI’s terrestrial biodiversity monitoring programs;

·         Leads a team tasked with the future development of ABMI work plan priorities for terrestrial biodiversity monitoring, which includes detailed guidance on field survey protocol adjustments, enhancements, and best practices;

·         Communicates work plan priorities for terrestrial biodiversity monitoring with ABMI senior leadership; and

·         Hires, trains, and supervises and manages performance of technical and support staff as needed.

3.       Directs and Undertakes Project Work

Working independently or in collaboration with other ABMI staff, the Senior Terrestrial Ecologist will conduct necessary terrestrial biodiversity monitoring program work.

·         Analyzes environmental monitoring data collected by ABMI to evaluate trends over time and relationships with human development activities for various terrestrial species, including plants, mammals, birds, and invertebrates;

·         Assesses the status and condition of terrestrial species and their habitats;

·         Identifies and resolves issues related to sampling design, field protocols, statistical distributions and software to improve ABMI’s terrestrial biodiversity monitoring programs;

·         Organizes terrestrial biodiversity monitoring data for analysis;

·         Develops and implements new analytical approaches aimed at obtaining maximum value from ABMI’s large (and growing) terrestrial biodiversity monitoring datasets;

·         Evaluates solutions to analytical challenges, and presents results and recommendations to other ABMI staff, collaborators, and the broader scientific community;

·         Develops and reports quality control procedures for ABMI terrestrial biodiversity monitoring data, analyses and modeling; and

·         Collaborates with other ABMI scientists, government researchers, academics, and other members of the scientific community.

4.       Knowledge Dissemination and Stakeholder Engagement

Facilitates direct and indirect understanding of ABMI’s terrestrial information with environmental scientists, resource managers, policy analysts, and stakeholders. 

·         Collaborates with government, industry technical representatives and Indigenous communities to coordinate and integrate ABMI’s terrestrial biodiversity monitoring program and initiatives;

·         Explores the application of ABMI terrestrial biodiversity data and data products to planning, policy development, and environmental resource management;

·         Provides operational summaries of ABMI activities related to terrestrial biodiversity science;

·         Communicates strengths and limitations of ABMI terrestrial biodiversity data products;

·         Supports the creation and dissemination of reports and other information products led by the ABMI Information Centre;

·         Presents results and recommendations based on analyses to other ABMI staff, collaborators, and the broader scientific community;

·         Communicates scientific results in meetings, seminars, scientific conferences and related settings; and

·         Leads and supports development of technical reports and manuscripts for publication in the scientific literature.