Biodiversity Research Assistant, ESAY Living Labs, University of York
The University of York is committed to a sustainable future and our sustainability plan has the improvement of campus biodiversity as a key target. A major component of this is the York Living Labs initiative. YLL seeks to improve biodiversity on campus and engagement with it by implementing a range of projects and experiments aimed at achieving positive change. This provides a great opportunity for everyone across the university community to get involved with actions, campaigns, research and teaching working collectively towards a nature positive future.
The overarching YLL goals are to:
- Promote links between our cutting-edge research and operations to develop solutions to sustainability issues on campus.
- Promote the use of the campus as a test-bed for sustainability solutions.
- Provide powerful learning opportunities for students to lead and work on ‘live’ real-world sustainability issues on campus.
- Raise awareness of specific sustainability issues and promote positive change within our campus community.
- Cohere and boost environmental sustainability knowledge and activities from across the University.
- These aims are in-line with the ESAY Vision for a strong collaborative approach to solving critical environmental sustainability challenges.
The project will provide important data on our on campus biodiversity by collating this key information, enabling knowledge sharing with students and staff as this is communicated to the university community.
Project details:
The internship will focus on collating and compiling information about biodiversity and its management on the university campus, including the wealth of bird records on the estate. You will also have opportunities to research ideas for improvement of biodiversity on campus. You will work with another intern as a partner on the project and receive supervision to support their progress.
As part of this project, you will:
- Create a report outlining the flora and fauna currently on campus and historically, synthesising existing knowledge on campus in an accessible format.
- Compile a list of potential management changes and how these would improve biodiversity.
- Use research tools such as literature searching and data management.
- Work with staff and students involved in recording biodiversity on campus.
- Develop skills in data science and knowledge of natural history and biodiversity science.
- Work with a partner to create a digital map communicating biodiversity on campus to staff, students and the wider public.
We are looking for someone with:
- Good communication skills
- Experience of summarising large amounts of information & data
- Excellent writing skills
- Knowledge of natural history and biodiversity management
- Good team working skills
- Data handling experience such as Excel (knowledge of R or coding languages advantageous but not essential)
What the intern can gain from this internship:
- Experience of project design, report writing, teamwork and data handling
- Opportunity to improve communication and graphic design skills via work designed to disseminate any findings with their partner.
- Experience working with a sustainability initiative.
Application details
This post is brought to you by York Internships. This post is for 37 hours per week on a flexible working basis. Interviews are expected to take place on 14th and 15th June.
Please note that if you are offered an internship through York Internships, it is a condition of the agreement that you participate fully in the training elements of your project, which includes maintenance of a learning journal and completion of a short project report or video about your experience.
Employers choose to advertise their roles via York Internships, therefore we ask that you do not contact employers directly with your application. If you have any questions about your application, please email careers-placements@york.ac.uk.
How to apply:
To apply, please click the red ‘apply’ link.
- Please download the York Internships application form. You can find this on the York Internships company profile as an attachment. Alternatively, the application form is attached to the internship vacancy. Once you have completed this, please re-upload along with your CV.
- Please note that if you do not receive a confirmation email following your application, we have not received it. Therefore please be sure to save a copy of your application in case you need to reapply, and email careers-placements@york.ac.uk if you wish to check your application status.
- Please note that details of this project will not be accessible through Handshake following the closing date; please save a copy of this opportunity for your reference.
- If you have not heard from York Internships within two weeks of the application deadline, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.
- You are encouraged to seek support when putting together your application. You can access CV and interview advice at york.ac.uk/careers/applications
INTERNSHIP ELIGIBILITY: YOU MUST READ THIS INFORMATION BEFORE APPLYING. If you have any questions at all about your eligibility, please contact careers-placements@york.ac.uk at the earliest opportunity - do not wait for the application closing date to contact the team.
The hourly rate for this position is subject to tax, National Insurance and people’s pension. The intern will be paid monthly in line with the casual payroll process based on the submission of timesheets via Dashboard.
This internship is open to all students of the University of York who will be registered with the University, and who will be based in and have the legal right to work in the UK, for the duration of the internship. If you have any questions at all about your eligibility, please contact careers-placements@york.ac.uk at the earliest opportunity - do not wait for the application closing date to contact the team.
As this is a full-time internship it cannot be undertaken alongside courses of study or research that are active over the summer vacation period. If you are registered on such a course and believe that your individual circumstances enable you to complete the internship on a full-time basis you should email careers-placements@york.ac.uk with an email providing specific consent to undertake the internship on a full-time basis from your tutor/supervisor at the time of application. If no such email is received, your application will not be considered.
Please note that students studying on a student visa may not exceed 20 hours of paid work (including voluntary work) per week during term time. For postgraduate students, we consider term-time to include the summer vacation.
Right to work documentation: Any applicant who is offered this internship will be asked to provide evidence of their right to work in the UK before beginning the internship. This will involve providing a copy of your passport to the University’s HR Team. If you are a non-EU national your passport should contain details of your student visa confirming that you have obtained permission to work. You will be contacted with further instructions on how to complete a Right to Work check if you are offered the role.
You must be eligible to work in the UK and have a valid National Insurance (NI) number to complete this internship. If you are in the application process for an NI number at the time your internship is due to start, you can start work, however please note the University of York Casual Worker Team will require you to provide your NI number as soon as possible. Further information on NI numbers can be found on the UK Government website.