The California Grizzly Research Network and NORFACE/Belmont Forum/NSF-funded CON-VIVA working group invite applications for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in conservation social science.

Since 2016, the Grizzly Network (www.calgrizzly.com) has been promoting—through interdisciplinary research and education—a more informed scholarly and public conversation about the past and potential future of brown (grizzly) bears in California. The CON-VIVA project (www.convivialconservation.com), which includes case studies in four countries, launched in 2018 to better understand conflicts with large carnivores, and develop new approaches for conserving and coexisting with them during a time of rapid institutional, political, economic, and ecological change.

The fellow hired for this position will conduct a field study to assess the knowledge, attitudes, values, and beliefs of people living in two California communities toward proposals to reintroduce and recover large carnivores, particularly brown bears, in nearby parks and wilderness areas.

This position will require the fellow to design and implement a social science field study, including identifying key stakeholders, interviewing local leaders and residents, organizing focus groups, and engaging in participant observation. The fellow will consult with a steering committee of UCSB faculty, participate in the Grizzly Network, and maintain close correspondence with CON-VIVA members in other regions. This includes attending international team meetings, and writing co-authored journal articles.

The fellow will be based in the Environmental Studies Program at UC Santa Barbara. While in the field, the fellow will use the facilities of the UC Natural Reserve System.

Applicants should have a doctorate in the social sciences (anthropology, sociology, geography, history, political science, etc.), a publishing track record, an ability to work in interdisciplinary and international teams, and excellent communication skills.

Applicants should send a letter of interest, CV, writing sample, and the contact information for two references to Professor Peter Alagona at palagona@gmail.com.

Selection will focus on applicants’ qualifications, track record, potential, and fit. Applicants must have completed their PhDs, or show strong evidence that they will do so by June 2019.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Position 3: postdoc (36 months), based at the ESALQ (Piracicaba) from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil; position to study human-wildlife conflict in the Atlantic Forest biome involving Jaguars

Description in Portuguese: http://fapesp.br/oportunidades/2560/

We are looking for

The Wildlife Ecology, Management and Conservation Lab (LEMaC) at Forest Science, ESALQ/USP seeks a candidate for a postdoc position on the recently awarded project ‘Towards Convivial Conservation: Governing Human-Wildlife Interactions in the Anthropocene’ (CON-VIVA, 2018-2021). Candidates with a background in relevant social sciences (anthropology, geography, sociology, political science, human dimension etc.) will be considered, especially candidates with expertise in the broad areas of environment and development, political ecology, natural resources management and conservation. Your responsibilities include performing research on the (challenges to the) prospects and possibilities of convivial conservation (internationally by studying global conservation events and actors and comparatively across the four cases within the project), assisting in the coordination and management of the CON-VIVA project, occasional teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels, and participating in management activities. For more information on the CON-VIVA project, see: www.convivialconservation.com

We ask

As postdoc on the CON-VIVA project you have:

• A PhD in anthropology, sociology, geography, political science, political ecology, biology or a related field;
• Proven ability to publish in high-quality academic journals and with top academic publishers;
• Ability to work in interdisciplinary and international research teams;
• Excellent communication and writing skills as well as project coordination and management skills. Portuguese fluency is desired;
• Good didactic qualities and enthusiasm for teaching and working with students;
• Familiarity with the case-study context of the Mata Atlântica is an advantage
• Familiarity with social science methods.

We offer

We offer the chance to participate in an exciting international network of top researchers in the field and the ability to participate in conferences and project meetings. Scholarship (R$ 7.373,10) will be paid by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation; http://www.fapesp.br/en/) for 36 months. Selected candidate should live at the same city of the Institution (Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brasil) and accept FAPESP Post-Doctoral fellowship (http://www.fapesp.br/en/postdoc) conditions.

To apply

To apply for this position, please submit an application letter to katia.ferraz@usp.br, indicating your suitability for the position and some first ideas about the direction you would want to take in the postdoc position, and how this would contribute to the goals and themes of the CON-VIVA project. Besides the letter, please include your Curriculum Vitae and one writing sample (a published paper or a chapter of your dissertation). The selection will follow the FAPESP norms (http://www.fapesp.br/en/5100)

Contact info

Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from: Prof. Dra. Katia Ferraz (katia.ferraz@usp.br or +55 19 3447 6693 or 3447 6671)

Deadline for application: 5 January 2019, 23:59/ Please note that interviews will be held during the last or third week of January 2019.

University of São Paulo, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ/USP)

Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ) is located at the Luiz de Queiroz Campus in the city of Piracicaba and is currently considered a Center of Excellence for Undergraduate and Graduate programs in Agricultural, Environmental, Biological and Applied Social Sciences, acknowledged for its outstanding scientific and technical performance. Its academic community is comprised of 800 faculty and staff members along with nearly 3,400 undergraduate and graduate students. Its total area (3,825.4 hectares) corresponds to 50% of the total area of University of São Paulo.

ESALQ offers 7 undergraduate programs and 15 graduate programs (one international), in addition to one inter-institutional and two inter-unit programs, in its 12 departments and more than 130 laboratories. It houses a reference library in Agricultural Sciences in Latin America, 4 experimental stations, as well as an enterprise incubator.

ESALQ has graduated 15,000 students. It is the first Brazilian higher education institution to graduate more than 11,000 Agricultural Engineering. ESALQ is a part of the international scene due to agreements with foreign institutions, exchanging students and faculty members, and offering double degree programs in Agriculture and in Food Science with French institutions.

Wildlife Ecology, Management and Conservation Lab, Forest Science Departament at ESALQ/USP

The Wildlife Ecology, Management and Conservation Lab (LEMaC) is coordinated by Dr. Katia Ferraz, at Forest Science Department, ESALQ. LEMaC team is formed by more than 20 members (graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs and trainees) working on interdisciplinary projects related to applied ecology (mammals and birds), human dimensions and conservation planning. The Postdoc will be part of LEMaC having the opportunity to integrate and collaborate with other students and projects.

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For further information about working at ESALQ/USP, take a look at http://www.en.esalq.usp.br/.

Due to popular demand our research symposium on Convivial Conservation will now be livestreamed here. It will then be archived here and available for viewing for the next three years. Please join us!

Towards Convivial Conservation? Governing Human-Wildlife Relations in the ‘Anthropocene’ (CONVIVA)

Research Symposium co-sponsered by Centre for Space Place and Society (CSPS) and Political ecology @ WUR

1 November 2018

Orion Building C2030

Wageningen University, the Netherlands

Convivial conservation is a new conservation approach that aims to move beyond currently dominant paradigms that promote nature-culture dualisms and market-based funding mechanisms. Both of these are increasingly recognized as obstacles to sustainable conservation, yet viable alternatives for transcending them have yet to be organized into a new paradigm and approach. The convivial conservation proposal has been conceptualized to fill this precise gap in envisioning integrated landscapes and new forms of wealth redistribution. Yet for its further practical operationalization, broader discussions amongst different conservation actors are needed. This seminar aims to give a strong impetus to these discussions by focusing on different responses to human-wildlife conflict cases around the world that may contain elements of a broader convivial conservation approach.

Seminar schedule:

8:45 – 9:00                       Coffee/tea

9:00 – 9:15                       Opening/welcome

Bram Büscher and Rob Fletcher, Sociology of Development and Change, Wageningen University

9:15 – 10:30                     Session I: Relating Humans and Wildlife

Nature-based tourism and indigenous communities in the Brazilian Pantanal: between representations of biodiversity and biocultural diversity

Koen Arts, Forest and Nature Conservation, Wageningen University

Institutional Arrangements for Conservation, Development and Tourism in Eastern and Southern Africa

René van der Duim, Cultural Geography, Wageningen University

The importance of emotions in human-wildlife relationships

Maarten Jacobs, Cultural Geography, Wageningen University

Carnivores, colonisation and conflict: how to subjugate a nation and its wildlife

Niki Rust, Research Associate, Newcastle University

10:30 – 10:45                  Coffee/tea

10:45 – 12:00                  Session II: Human-wildlife co-existence in practice I

Designing wild-user friendly conservation technologies for animals

Clemens Driessen, Cultural Geography, Wageningen University

Behavioural Ecology and Wildlife Conservation

Marc Naguib, Behavioral Ecology, Wageningen University

Living with the wolf: A Luhmannian perspective to human-wildlife conflict in Redes Natural Park, Spain

Isabeau Ottolini and Arjaan Pellis (Cultural Geography) and Jasper de Vries (Strategic Communication), Wageningen University

Human-bear cohabitation in Rodopi mountains, Bulgaria

Svetoslava Toncheva, Comparative Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

12:00 – 13:00                   Lunch (in Orion cafeteria)

13:00 – 14:15                   Session III: Human-wildlife co-existence in practice II

Managing human-wildlife conflicts: examples from WWF programmes

Femke Hilderink-Koopmans, World Wildlife Fund Netherlands

Re-examining wildlife management: Living with bears and boars

Susan Boonman-Berson, Independent Researcher, www.bearatwork.org

Balancing with the Wolfs? Institutional change in dealing with large carnivores in Törbel (Switzerland)

Ariane Zangger, Department of Anthropology, University of Bern, Switzerland

What do animals tell us about poaching?

Frank van Langevelde, Resource Ecology, Wageningen University

14:15 – 15:30                  Session IV: Species, entanglements and politics

Landscape as a trap: tracing duck decoys as multi-species living machines

Eugenie van Heijgen, Cultural Geography, Wageningen University

Global conservation, local negotiation: a case of Barnacle geese

Yulia Kisora, Cultural Geography, Wageningen University

The Apex-Handbag: From egg-gathering natives via croc-farmers to the distributers of quality leather in a global market

Samuel Weissman, Department of Anthropology, University of Bern

The dynamic and two dimensional nature of human-wildlife relations: Learnings from a biosocial study on human-tiger interactions from Panna Tiger Reserve, India

Shekhar Kolipaka, Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University

15:30 – 15:45                    Coffee/tea break

15:45 – 17:00                  Session V: CON-VIVA Project Case Studies

Jaguar Conservation, Brazil

Katia Ferraz, Forest Science Department, University of São Paulo

Grizzly Bear Reintroduction, US (California)

Peter Alagona, Departments of History and Geography, University of California – Santa Barbara

Lion Conservation, Tanzania

Amy Dickman, Wildlife Conservation Research, Oxford University

Grey Wolf Conservation, Finland

Anja Nygren, Development Studies, University of Helsinki

17:00 – 17:15                   Closing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wish to appoint a Research Associate to the Sheffield Institute for International Development. The appointee will work as a postdoctoral researcher on the recently awarded project ‘Towards Convivial Conservation: Governing Human-Wildlife Interactions in the Anthropocene’ (CON-VIVA, 2018-2021). Candidates with a background in relevant social sciences (anthropology, geography, sociology, political science, etc.) will be considered, especially candidates with expertise in the broad areas of environment and development, political ecology, natural resources management and conservation.
Responsibilities will include:

• performing research on the (challenges to the) prospects and possibilities of convivial conservation (internationally by studying global conservation events and actors and comparatively across the four cases within the project)

• assisting in the coordination and management of the CON-VIVA project

• occasional teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels

• participating in management activities.
Applicants should submit a CV, a letter explaining your interest in the position (no more than 2 pages) and a two-page research proposal (not including the bibliography) that can be completed in two years. Reference letters will be requested for shortlisted candidates. Please apply via the link here.