Field Researcher(s)

Location: North-Central California and Portland, Oregon

Contact:

Charles Steinback (charles@ecotrust.org)
Senior Marine GIS Analyst
Ecotrust
721 NW 9th Ave., Suite 200
Portland, OR 97209
Please, no phone calls.

 
We are currently looking to hire 6-8 paid interns to conduct interviews with commercial fishermen in the North-Central Coast of California. This work is in support of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a statewide private-public effort to design and manage an improved network of marine protected areas to, among other things, protect marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems, and marine natural heritage. Marine protected areas include marine reserves, marine parks and marine conservation areas (www.dfg.ca.gov/MRD/mlpa). The MLPA Initiative began with a pilot project along the central coast of California, and is set to continue in the North-Central Coast, from Alder Creek in Mendocino County to Pigeon Point in San Mateo County. Ecotrust was previously contracted by the MLPA Initiative to compile expert knowledge from fishermen to create a comprehensive dataset of commercial fishing use patterns along the Central California Coast. This work constituted an innovative and vital contribution to the understanding of the extent and economic importance of fisheries in the region, and involved fishermen in participatory research. Ecotrust has been retained to conduct similar research in the next region of the MLPA process. After introductory meetings have been conducted with representatives of the fishing community, and a survey designed, field staff will begin contacting fishermen to set up interviews. Interviews will be conducted using one-on-one or small group formats. Field staff will use Oceanmap (Desktop GIS application) to collect shapes representing participants’ fishing grounds and other non-spatial attributes, including demographics, basic operations (gear types, crew size/composition, operating costs and revenues), and other descriptive characteristics. Field staff will be trained in field methods, data preparation, quality control, and some analysis.

We are looking for candidates who: Have a flexible schedule, are willing to travel, and able to live (part-time\full-time) in the San Francisco area this summer; Have an outgoing personality, a friendly and professional attitude, and experience or interest in interview-based research; Are familiar with basic GIS operations using Arcview, ArcMap, QGIS; and Are organized and detail oriented. Spanish, Vietnamese, or other language skills a plus.

Submit an Ecotrust Employment Application form (available as a PDF or Word DOC) along with a statement of interest, resumé, and references.