Conservation Officer (Rare Invertebrates Cairngorms)

Your help is needed to complete annual and monthly surveys essential to collect data about four species of Invertebrate to monitor population trends and help inform the science behind our work. This science contributes to an ongoing project to monitor and restore six species of invertebrates across the Cairngorms with a particular focus on Speyside, with the RSPB and its Partners including RZSS and BugLife.

This role will vary depending on the landscape you are working within in and the needs of the Area team:

Surveying starting Now for Kentish Glory (Endroma versicolor) moth adults, eggs and Larvae. Surveying in June at key sites for adult Pine Hoverfly (Blera fallax) as part of an ongoing reintroduction programme. Surveying in June and July for larvae of Dark Bordered Beauty (Epione verspertaria) moth Larvae at Insh and two other sites TBC Supporting with light trapping for Dark Bordered Beauty moths at Insh Marshes and other key sites in July and August. Surveying for Small Scabious Mining Bee (Andrena marginata) at key sites in July and August Surveying artificial habitats for larvae of Pine Hoverfly in September and October. This will be key to understanding the success of a conservation breeding and release programme.

It will require some key general skills, and some of the invertebrates you may choose to look at will present some ID challenges, but please note that we will offer full training and induction.

• IT skills, creating documents, managing spreadsheets, submitting records.
• Organisational skills.
• Specific skills for monitoring the chosen taxa. Some basic understanding of the biology of the groups we are examining are useful, though detailed or species specific knowledge is not expected and training can be provided.
• Ability to work independently, and in a small team.

This role provides the chance to develop hands on experience and skills around surveying. We will offer training and induction to ensure that you are prepared for the specific needs for each landscape. You will be contributing to our Rare Invertebrates Cairngorms work programme, so we are able to better protect these species and their habitats long into the future.

We like to think we're a friendly and welcoming team, so you'll have the opportunity to make new friends too.