Research Assistant In River Ecology

Location: Clifton Campus Fixed term to 31 July 2024 About the Role Nottingham Trent University (NTU) are collaborating with the Environment Agency on the Small Streams Network project, which is developing methods to assess the ecological health of England’s small stream ecosystems. This project will evaluate vegetation-based (i.e. plant-based) survey and analysis methods developed to assess inorganic nutrient pollution in small streams, including temporary streams, which sometimes dry out. The Environment Agency have developed preliminary methods to survey vegetation in small streams, but these methods exclude the terrestrial plant species that inhabit drying and dry streams. To address this gap, researchers at NTU developed methods that use dry-phase plant communities—including their terrestrial species—to assess the health of small chalk streams. To translate these methods into real-world environmental impact, we now need to evaluate their performance in other small streams. You will be based at Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology on our Clifton Campus. You will work alongside a senior Research Fellow and Environment Agency staff to complete a programme of fieldwork to evaluate a method for surveying dry-phase plant communities in drying and dry small streams. As such, the post involves driving to field sites in England, with overnight stays. Key scientific skills which you bring to or develop on the project will include proficiency with taxonomic keys and species-level plant identification. We will provide training to develop your current identification skills. You will also contribute to office-based tasks including fieldwork planning and data entry. You will become part of our diverse team of professorial to undergraduate researchers who are investigating biodiversity in River ecosystems. A full, clean driving licence is desirable. We expect to interview (for this post and the associated Research Fellow role) in the week commencing Monday 25 March 2024. For more details, please take a look at the role profile. We'll still consider applications even if you don't meet every single one of the requirements, so don't be put off if you don't match them perfectly. About Us The School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is an exciting multidisciplinary environment for learning, teaching and research, with some of the best facilities in the UK. We pride ourselves on delivering high-quality teaching and diverse, real-world research. We specialise in biosciences, chemistry, computing and technology, as well as engineering, forensic science, mathematics, physics and sport science. This mix of traditional and modern subjects encourages and inspires future innovators. Research in the School underpins the teaching of our courses and is highly interdisciplinary by nature. Everything we do has a real-world impact on society, and provides significant contributions to scientific knowledge, advanced research training and opportunities for commercial exploitation. For any informal queries about the role or the team, please contact Rachel Stubbington (Professor of River Ecology) at rachel.stubbington@ntu.ac.uk 0115 848 3769