Research Assistant, Branching Out

Salary: £27,924 - £33,309 (pro-rate for 0.6 FTE)

Terms:Part-time, Fixed Term until July 2024 (may differ dependant on FTE)

Closing Date: 12th August 2022, 12:00pm (midday)

Job share and flexible working patterns will be considered.

The role

Are you an ecologist or environmental scientist with experience of citizen science and working with stakeholders and a passion for interdisciplinary working and urban trees? The Open University is part of a large interdisciplinary project investigating the social and cultural values of urban trees. The project, called Branching Out, is funded as part of the UKRI Future of UK Treescapes programme (https://www.uktreescapes.org/projects/branching-out/ ). The other project partners include Loughborough University, The University of York, Forest Research and local authorities in three cities: Cardiff, Milton Keynes and York. The  OU’s role in the project crosses citizen science, urban tree mapping, remote sensing and participatory methods.

We are looking for a Research Assistant (RA) to support the OU’s delivery of Branching Out. The RA will be part of small interdisciplinary team at the OU including academic lead, Dr. Phil Wheeler, Senior Lecturer in Ecology; and Janice Ansine Senior Project Manager - Citizen Science.

Day-to-day the role will require supporting the coordination of stakeholder workshops, managing data from citizen science data collection and working collaboratively with the project partners. A key element of the role will be support for the citizen science platform Treezilla (www.treezilla.org ).

See the attached Job Description below for further details.

Skills and experience

This role will suit you if you have experience of successfully working and engaging with diverse stakeholders and publics. You should also have been involved in, or participated in, citizen science projects to bring that experience to the role. The Branching Out team includes environmental scientists, social scientists, economists and story tellers, all with an enthusiasm for the environmental, social and cultural value of urban trees; sharing that enthusiasm will be a valuable asset for you in the role.

If you would like to discuss the particulars of this post before making an application, please email [email protected]   or contact Lauren Denton on +(0)1908653492 .

What you get in return

We have a strong commitment to providing training and development in and beyond your current role. This includes thorough induction into the organisation and regular reviews of your training and development needs.

We also offer a great range of benefits that support our employees and their families for the long term. Benefits include an attractive pension proposition and 30/33 days holiday per annum pro rata, plus Bank Holidays and Christmas closure days.