Graduate Assistantship – Human dimensions of citizen science: North Carolina State University

School: NC State University

Job Category: Graduate Assistantships

Start Date: January or Fall 2017 (flexible)

Last Date to Apply: 11/07/2016

 

Description:

     Graduate opportunities in Fish and Wildlife Conservation within the Department of Forestry & Environmental Resources for self-motivated and hardworking student interested in the human dimensions of citizen science. The graduate student will conduct research via resources and tools available in collaboration with SciStarter.com, the largest repository of citizen science projects in the world and a comprehensive database detailing project design features and outcomes. Thanks to a NSF-AISL Pathways award, SciStarter will soon offer each member a dashboard to manage and display their citizen science activities, track their progress in projects, network with others, and consent to have their online behavior tracked across citizen science projects.
      Possible research directions include, but are not limited to:
• Linkages between pathway of initial recruitment and subsequent retention in citizen science.
• Explore practices for the co-management of citizen scientists with awareness of their enrollment in multiple projects.
• Linkages between citizen science project design and scientific, learning, and conservation outcomes
• Linkages between participation dynamics within and among projects and scientific, learning, and conservation outcomes.
• Design of recommender systems to enhance participant agency in navigating an ecosystem of highly varied projects.
• Project owner perceptions about project aggregation, competition, and collaboration.
     Students will be expected to engage with the activities of the university-wide cluster on Leadership in Public Science (https://facultyclusters.ncsu.edu/clusters/leadership-in-public-science/) which offers unique intellectual focus and professional development in the realm of citizen science, open science, and science communication. The students will spend time in the Biodiversity Research lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (http://naturalsciences.org/research-collections/biodiversity-lab) where they will have ample opportunities to develop their science communication skills.  

Qualification

Minimum qualifications:
     BS (MS for PhD opening) degree in social sciences, information sciences, human dimensions or similar with some coursework in ecology, GPA of 3.4 or higher GRE scores near or above 160 in verbal and quantitative areas demonstrated research experience (data collection, analysis, and writing), interest in interdisciplinary (social and biological), research commitment to public science, excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred qualifications:
     Experience with citizen science, experience with quantitative research and survey development, experience with google analytics and quantitative analysis skills. 

To apply:
    To apply, submit a pre-application to Dr. Cooper at cbcoope3@ncsu.edu by Nov 7. Submit pre-application as a single PDF file attached to an email introducing yourself with “Human dimensions of citizen science graduate application” in the email subject line:
1) Cover letter summarizing interest in the position, qualifications, and experience, as well as research and career goals.
2) Curriculum Vitae.
3) Academic transcripts (can be unofficial).
4) GRE scores (can be unofficial).
5) Names, contact information, and short description of relationship for three professional references.
    Selected applicants will also need to apply to the Dept of Forestry & Environmental Resources at North Carolina State University before acceptance.