Senior Research Associate - Metropolitan Human-Wildlife Conflicts

About the role

The successful candidate will conduct a human dimensions study in the metropolitan Atlanta (metro-Atlanta) region to determine:

• Residents' level of wildlife tolerance, and determinants of wildlife tolerance, e.g. attitudes, beliefs, risk concerns, pet ownership, socio-demographics;
• Perceived positive and negative impacts of wildlife, and whether certain wildlife species tend to be liked or disliked;
• Residents' knowledge of appropriate actions to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, and their willingness to engage in these actions;
• Residents' prior awareness of Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR), and their level of trust in GADNR;
• How residents would prefer to receive information about living with wildlife.

Responsibilities

• Design and pre-test online surveys to be administered to residents of the metro-Atlanta region.
• Coordinate with Research Services at Qualtrics to administer the survey.
• Ensure that all completed surveys meet data quality standards (e.g., respondents answered all questions, did not speed through the survey, did not fail attention check and data validity questions).
• Clean and analyze all data collected using appropriate regression analyses to identify determinants of wildlife tolerance.
• Ensure that all research efforts are reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Georgia.
• Generate a final report for GADNR which provides descriptive statistics for all survey questions, the results of regression and other appropriate analyses, and recommendations on how GADNR may enhance their engagement with residents of the metropolitan Atlanta region.
• Present the results of this study to GADNR (online or in-person depending on health and safety restrictions).
• Disseminate research findings at academic meetings and conferences.
• Undertake additional research and extension tasks associated with this project, as identified by Dr. Pienaar.

Requirements

• Requires at least a baccalaureate degree in the field.
• MS or PhD in human dimensions, social sciences or related discipline conferred by August 31, 2021.
• Experience in survey design and quantitative analysis, including analysis of survey data (e.g. logistic regression).
• Proficiency in computer languages suitable for statistical analysis (e.g., R, STATA).

Qualifications

• Completed graduate level coursework in human dimensions theories and methods (or comparable social sciences methods) prior to the start date of this position.
• Demonstrated ability to apply human dimensions or other social sciences theories and methods in an applied research context.
• Experience in survey design and quantitative analysis, including analysis of survey data (e.g. logistic regression).
• Proficiency in computer languages suitable for statistical analysis (e.g., R, STATA).

Skills

• Human dimensions theories and methods.
• Survey design and quantitative analysis.
• Statistical analysis (e.g., logistic regression).
• Computer languages suitable for statistical analysis (e.g., R, STATA).

Benefits

Not specified.

Pay

$48,000

Schedule

Standard hours – Monday thru Friday; 8:00 AM – 5:00PM