Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Wildlife Conservation (Quantitative Social Science)

Updated: 3 months ago
Location: Canterbury, ENGLAND
Job Type: FullTime
Deadline: 29 Jan 2024

The School of Anthropology and Conservation is seeking to hire a Post-Doctoral Research Associate with expertise in quantitative analyses to work on an exciting new applied research programme focussing on West and Central Africa.

The successful applicant will be working on the research programme Wildlife Consumption in Urban Tropical Africa, funded by UK Research and Innovation, and led by Dr Daniel Ingram of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE). This interdisciplinary research programme comprises postdoctoral and postgraduate specialists in wildlife conservation, social sciences, economics, and statistics, who together investigate the socio-cultural, economic, and ecological drivers of the hunting, consumption, and trade of wildlife (for “wild meat”) in rural and urban areas of the tropics and subtropics.

This Post-Doctoral researcher will primarily analyse data collected on the demographic, socio-cultural, and behavioural dimensions of wild meat consumption by urban residents in Guinea and Cameroon. The role will likely also involve participation in a research dissemination and policy workshop in one of the focal countries.

We are therefore seeking a candidate who has experience in quantitative analyses using R, and who is interested in the drivers of natural resource use and human values and behaviours.

As a Post-Doctoral Research Associate you will:

  • Develop an in-depth novel understanding of wild meat consumption behaviours to guide conservation policies and interventions by:
  • building a model testing the theory of planned behaviour for urban wildmeat consumption, and write it up as a journal article
  • develop wildlife value orientation profiles of urban wildmeat consumers, and write it up as a journal article
  • Represent the Urban Wild Meat Research Programme at meetings and events internationally

To be successful in this role you will have:

  • A PhD or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject within conservation, behavioural or social science or similar (ideally applied to conservation issues)
  • Knowledge of statistical techniques to analyse data
  • Experience of undertaking complex quantitative analyses and modelling using the R programming language
  • Experience of writing publications for peer-reviewed internationally-recognised academic journals
  • Experience of collaborating effectively with academic and non-academic collaborators

Please see the links below to view the full Job Description and to apply for this post. For further information regarding the application process please contact The People Services Team on [email protected] quoting ref number: HSS-209-24.

Further details:   

Please note that we prioritise applications from current University of Kent redeployees. We will let you know if this post is to be filled by a redeployee as, in this instance, your application will unfortunately not be taken forward.

Applications must be made via the University’s online application system; CVs or details sent directly to the department or via email cannot be considered.

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