[NHCOLL-L:3648] job posting: avian taxonomy

[Kimberly Bostwick]

Greetings all,

See below for a once-in-a-lifetime position for the right person....

Cheers,
Kim

TITLE:                        Avian Taxonomy and Neotropical Birds  
Specialist – 07821
                         Position is 1-yr term appt with renewal  
dependent on funding.

DESCRIPTION:  Located at the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds  
and Biodiversity in the 220-acre Sapsucker Woods sanctuary, the  
Cornell Lab of Ornithology is the world's leading resource for  
conservation, research, education, and citizen science focused on  
birds. The lab is a vibrant unit within Cornell's College of  
Agriculture & Life Sciences, where several full-time faculty teach  
undergraduate courses, advise graduate students, and manage world- 
class, mission-driven programs. Our management and staff are committed  
to the highest standards of ethics and excellence in all areas of our  
work, and our Board leadership includes faculty from Cornell and other  
universities, successful entrepreneurs and managers from the business  
and non-profit sectors, and conservation-minded citizens from the U.S.  
and beyond.

The position has two primary responsibilities. The taxonomy component  
is expected to occupy no more than half time, and over the long term  
may drop to about one-third time. The key responsibility is to  
maintain direct contact with current ornithological literature, and  
the global network of taxonomic specialists, so that the Lab’s world- 
wide avian database remains up-to-date based on new discoveries and  
evolving nomenclature at all taxonomic levels. Among other uses, this  
database will represent a dynamically updated version of the Clement’s  
Checklist of Birds of the World.  The Neotropical Birds component of  
this position should occupy from 50% to 67% of the time. The intent is  
to create an information-rich website approximately comparable to the  
existing Birds of North American Online site, focusing on the  
remaining Western Hemisphere taxa (i.e., birds of Middle America,  
South America, and the Caribbean). The site is likely to focus at the  
outset on birds of special conservation concern, and/or geographic  
groups of taxa for which web-ready content is readily available.

Responsible for generating and posting quarterly updates to the  
database, with assistance from the Lab’s Communication team. In  
addition, this database serves all the Lab’s mission-critical projects  
and programs (e.g., eBird and other citizen-science projects, digital  
collections and catalogs of the Macaulay Library, online reference  
information such as BNA-Online, All About Birds, etc.). Because  
ongoing literature surveys are essential to carry out this work, the  
appointee will flag articles and issues of concern to the two standing  
committees of the American Ornithologists’ Union responsible for  
maintaining up-to-date Western Hemisphere checklists (Committee on  
Classification and Nomenclature and South American Classification  
Committee).

Recruit specialist volunteers from the global community to write or  
edit scholarly biographies of Neotropical birds, and will amplify  
these accounts by integrating appropriate rich-media assets (e.g.,  
clips from the Macaulay Library). This online project will deliver  
scholarly biological information to students, professionals,  
interested laypersons, and government agencies worldwide, especially  
to those in Latin America who have limited access to other scholarly  
ornithological materials. The intent is to make this comprehensive  
online resource available at no cost to users.  In the course of  
accomplishing the above duties, the Research Associate may engage in  
primary research leading to peer-reviewed scientific publications, but  
only as appropriate for timely and scholarly execution of the  
position’s two principal objectives.  Opportunities exist to be  
associated with the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates, which is co-located  
with the Lab of Ornithology in the Johnson Ctr for Birds and  
Biodiversity.

REQUIREMENTS include a PhD, significant expertise in interpreting the  
avian systematics literature, deep knowledge of Neotropical birds,  
broad international contacts with experts in these fields, and  
management/organizational skills necessary to accomplish development  
of a major new online resource project.

Send a letter of application, complete resume, list of references and  
academic transcripts to:  Susan Taggart, Cornell Lab of Ornithology,  
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd, 283A Johnson Ctr for Birds & Biodiversity,  
Ithaca, NY 14850.  Inquiries about position specifics can be directed  
to Steve Kelling, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY 14850.   
Phone: 607-254-2478; Email stk2 at cornell.edu.  Review of applicants  
will continue until the position is filled.



*************************
Dr. Kimberly Bostwick
Curator, Birds and Mammals Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates
& Research Associate, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cornell University
(607) 254-2160

Mailing Address:
Imogene Powers Johnson Center
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, New York 14850


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