Multi positions UMD in conservation criminology and human dimensions of global environmental change
The Department of Geographical Sciences at University of Maryland, College Park has multiple job openings focused on conservation criminology and human dimensions of global environmental change. The Department believes increasing diversity will enhance our unit and we aim to increase diversity in multiple forms, including but not limited to identity, culture, background, ability, and opinions.
Assistant Research Professor/Post Doc Associate(https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/101123). The intersectionality of wildlife trafficking and biosafety from zoonotic pathogens and vectors has not received significant attention although there are serious implications for health and national security. The applicant(s) research will support critical surveillance, biosafety, and security (SB&S) efforts by creating new, and enhancing existing, capacity to address risks at the intersection of human-animal-ecosystem health, wildlife trafficking and zoonotic pathogens using geographical sciences. The applicant will join a dynamic and diverse interdisciplinary team with the unique experience and expertise to focus on anthrax and other zoonotic pathogens of security concern and pandemic potential in South Africa’s and Mozambique’s segments of The Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), an unfenced transnational peace park.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate (https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/101049). The illegal harvest and trade in wild flora and fauna undermines sustainable development, erodes local and global economies, poses security risks to local people, degrades the carbon capture potential of forests, and facilitates the spread of zoonotic diseases. No group of species so perfectly embodies the limits of current conservation practice than pangolins – the most trafficked wild mammals globally. Pangolins represent the socio-ecological systems within which many high value species are illegally harvested and traded globally. This research capitalizes on the latest advances in technology, interdisciplinary conservation science, big data, and artificial intelligence to generate and unify diverse data sources to inform sustainable and cost-effective solutions to the global biodiversity crisis associated with wildlife crime. The research will synthesize information from wildlife crime, population monitoring, and socio-ecological systems through cutting edge artificial intelligence (AI) analytical pipelines to support: 1) sustainable, socially legitimate, and locally led conservation interventions, 2) evidence-informed international policy implementation, and 3) predictive tools for addressing wildlife crime.
Faculty Specialist (https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/101048). This is a full time position responsible for supporting and coordinating a large international, multi-institution research collaboration including project management; assisting in the logistical planning of research activities including remote international fieldwork, workshops, meetings and conferences, overseeing travel arrangements; maintaining the projects’ research profiles on a project website; tracking milestones of project implementation specific to the funding requirements; editing technical reports and papers; assisting in vital communication between co-researchers, sponsors, and collaborative organizations; assisting the project director in administering the project by formulating and monitoring project budgets, coordinating and supervise the arrangements for foreign visitors and interns working on the projects, as well as various other tasks as required for the smooth functioning of large research projects.