Applications are invited for a postdoctoral fellowship with BirdLife South Africa (BLSA) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) to support analyses, monitoring and coordination of South Africa's Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) network.
The postdoctoral fellowship is under the auspices of the project titled 'Building biodiversity knowledge for action in Southern Africa: Spatial Biodiversity Assessment, Prioritization and Planning in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi' (hereafter 'SBAPP Regional Project'), which has been awarded to SANBI by French donors.
The purpose of this project is to develop and/or enhance spatial biodiversity assessments (of key species and ecosystem types) for four countries, and assist with their application in biodiversity prioritisation and planning in those countries. The postdoctoral fellowship will fall within Objective 7.1 'A network of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) available for South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi', and will focus on South Africa's KBAs. South Africa's first KBA network is in the process of being finalised as of March 2023, however, substantial coordination with experts and ongoing monitoring, data gathering and curation is required.
Requirements: The postdoctoral fellowship is open to anyone who has been awarded a PhD in the last five years, or who has submitted the final version of their PhD (i.e. letter/form from supervisors noting that all corrections requested by reviewers have been addressed) by the time of applying for this fellowship. Candidates must have a strong ecological background, including work in South African biomes, and have a desire to transition to a non-academic career path (however some possibilities for research and publication remain).
Applicants must demonstrate an ability to synthesise literature and data sources, and use scientific evidence to formulate defendable recommendations. The position also involves coordination and convening tasks linked to the National Coordination Group (NCG) for KBAs in South Africa. Candidates should also be comfortable working with a range of stakeholders across multiple sectors and should be able to convene necessary coordination meetings and workshops to further the KBA agenda in Southern Africa.
Candidates must be independent and productive with a track record in peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and popular writing. It would be an advantage for applicants to have experience with working with spatial biodiversity data sets, relational databases (basic SQL), as well as fundraising.
Areas of work: The main areas of work for the postdoc are (not in any priority order): * Develop a strategic KBA monitoring plan (after reading the international guidance) and liaise with partners to undertake the monitoring for the South Africa KBA network;
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