Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Conservation Science

The School of Anthropology and Conservation is seeking to hire a Post-Doctoral Research Associate with expertise in complex analyses and wildlife conservation to work on an exciting new research programmes 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 process and analyse a unique dataset of unparalleled scale from 1) wild meat markets and 2) urban wild meat consumers, from across West and Central Africa, to identify priority areas for intervention. They will work with partners (local NGOs and Universities) in Guinea and Cameroon, and will have the opportunity to lead papers evaluating 1) zoonotic disease risk from wild meat markets, and the profiles of urban wild meat consumers. The role will likely also involve travel and workshops in one of the focal countries.

We are therefore ideally seeking a candidate familiar with West and Central African fauna and who is proficient in data analysis using R.

As a Post-Doctoral Research Associate you will:

• Review, standardise, and collate data from wild meat markets and urban consumption studies in West and Central Africa in collaboration with project partners and the WILDMEAT project
• Implement advanced spatial modelling to investigate potential hotspots of zoonotic disease infection risk, and write-up as a journal article
• Implement advanced modelling and analyses to investigate consumption patterns and profiles of urban wild meat consumers, and write-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 science, environmental social science or development studies
• Knowledge of environmental and developmental issues (i.e overexploitation of natural resources)
• Experience of writing publications for peer-reviewed 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 HR Team on hsshr@kent.ac.uk quoting ref number: HSS-170-23.