Dear MARMAM members, we are looking for volunteer field helpers to participate in our 2017-2018 field season studying marine magafauna in the Falkland Islands, in order to cover the second and third shift of the season. PROJECT: Long term study of marine megafauna of the Falklands. POSITION: Volunteer (unpaid) field helper. DATES: two periods: 1) from the 4th of November 2017 to 24th of February 2018, and 2) form the 6th of January 2018 to the 31st of March 2018. LOCATION: Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands, Southern Atlantic. Sea Lion Island on Google maps: https://www.google.com/maps?q=Sea%25Lion%25Island,%2520Falkland%25Islands DUTIES: - Southern elephant seals: counts, mapping, observation of behavior, pup handling, collection of samples - Killer whales: photoidentification, observation and videotaping of behavior, necropsies of preys - Falklands skuas: counts, nest identification and mapping, observation of behavior - Striated caracaras: counts, nest identification and mapping, observation of behavior - Marine birds: counts and mapping of different species of marine birds (different species of penguins, cormorants, gulls, geese, and ducks) - Environmental monitoring: collection of microclimatic data, habitat classification, collection of GIS data Volunteers will be involved in both data collection in the field and data processing, but field work will take most of their time. We expect volunteers to be flexible respect to the their duties, that will change along the season. DEADLINE: Sunday 6th of October 2017; please note that, capabilities being equal, positions will be allocated with a first come first served policy DESCRIPTION Volunteer field helpers are required for the 2017-2018 field season of various long-term research projects on marine megafauna of the Falkland Islands carried out by the Elephant Seal Research Group (www.eleseal.org [1]). The field work site is Sea Lion Island, the southernmost inhabited island of the Falklands. Successful applicants will receive adequate training and will help with: - a long term project (22 years) on southern elephant seals - a long term project (4 years) on mammal-eating killer whales - a study of Falklands skua demography, behavior and vocal communication - various monitoring projects on the different marine and raptor bird species breeding on Sea Lion Island - general environmental monitoring of the island, including the collection of data for the Sea Lion Island GIS Volunteers will be supervised by the PIs and/or by trained technicians. Previous experience of field work is appreciated but not essential. Only applicants who can stay for a whole period can be taken into consideration. No volunteer is allowed to apply to stay for both periods, so please state clearly in your cover letter for which one you are applying (first or second) or, if you are available for both, which of the two you prefer (although we cannot guarantee to meet your preference). Applicants are required to pay all expenses to travel to Sea Lion Island, and telephone/Internet expenses while there. Accommodation, food, etc. at SLI will be provided by the ESRG. Accommodation on SLI is rather basic and self-catering, but comfortable for a field research setting (heating, hot water, shower, Internet connection hotspot in the nearby lodge). We are asking volunteers a 200 UK pounds contribution to help us with management expenses and research equipment maintenance. Please note that the travel to the Falklands can be expensive, so carefully check the price of flights. Travelling to the Falklands requires to: 1) fly to Santiago, Chile (airport code SCL) arriving on Friday morning; 2) get the flight to the Falklands (Mount Pleasant International, MPN) that leaves ONLY ONCE PER WEEK ON SATURDAY EARLY MORNING. After arriving in the Falklands, volunteer will spend one night in Stanley, and then fly by Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) to Sea Lion Island. The ESRG will help with bookings in the Falklands, including FIGAS, but volunteers will need to pay all their expenses, including: two ways international flight to Santiago; two nights and meals in Santiago (one per way); two ways flight from Santiago to the Falklands; bus transfer from Mount Pleasant to Stanley (two ways); three nights and meals in Stanley (one arriving, two departing); FIGAS flight. Other important expenses to consider are: - full medical insurance that needs to include emergency transportation to Chile and/or home country - clothing suitable to work the whole day in the field with harsh weather conditions, including thermal underware, warm trekking boots, Goretex outer shell (jacket and overtrousers), hats and gloves. - pair of binoculars; although we provide all the rest of the data collection equipment, volunteers need to have their own binoculars, suitable for use for the field work (in particular, minimum focusing distance 3m or less); volunteers that don't already have suitable binoculars will need to buy them. Applicants will be required to work in the field for the whole length of the day, six days per week. Once per week volunteers will not work in the field. That day they will carry out two hours of house keeping and four hours of data processing, being free for the rest of the day. Volunteers are required to help with cooking, cleaning of their cabin and general maintenance tasks. The data collection protocol is complex, the field work is physically very hard, and it is often carried out in bad weather conditions. People without a good tolerance to cold are discouraged to apply.It is a very rewarding, but demanding, experience. The island is a wonderful place with large unspoiled sandy beaches, and a very rich and very tame wildlife, it is the best hot spot for wildlife oriented tourism in the Falklands, it is an Important Birds Area and an Important Plants Area, a RAMSAR convention site, and a National Nature Reserve. It is definitely the most beuatiful island in the Falklands ! APPLICATION To apply please send 1) a cover letter describing your interest in the position and summarizing your qualifications for it, 2) a detailed CV, and 3) a copy of an identification document (with picture). Reference letters (3 maximum) are appreciated, but not essential, and should be sent directly to the email address mentioned below. If you think you may have extra documentation that can be relevant (eg, copy of a thesis, certificates, etc.) please mention them in your email, but don't send them unless requested. Please place all documents in a single PDF file, name it as "your_surname - ESRG2017 - application", and email it as an attachment of an email to Dr. Filippo Galimberti (fil_esrg@eleseal.org). Deadline for applications is Friday 6th of October 2017. Due to the limited number of positions available we warmly suggest perspective candidates to apply as soon as possible. Thanks The ESRG team Con Mobile Open 7 GB a 9 euro/4 sett navighi veloce con 7 GB di Internet e hai 200 minuti ed SMS a 15 cent. Passa a Tiscali Mobile! http://tisca.li/Open7GB0617