Job description

The purpose of the job is to help deliver a four-year Defra funded project titled ‘Multi-Criteria Assessment for Tree Species Prioritisation’. The key aim is to produce a shortlist of priority tree species for future planting in England. This will involve identifying knowledge gaps in our understanding of the species’ silvicultural and ecological impacts and gathering evidence from field trials and published literature to address these gaps. The results will feed into an updated Forest Research Tree Species Database, that will help provide foresters and land managers with the information needed to grow these novel species more successfully. This will involve collaborating with teams across Forest Research.
The role will also involve general support across the Silvicultural team working with project leaders to deliver the wider objectives of the Science Group.

Key work areas

Researching:

• Assisting with identifying sites to assess for species performance. This will involve reviewing data held within the Silviculture Experiment Database, compartment databases for the public forest estate and accessible private estate records. Reporting back in an agreed format, and consulting with colleagues to produce a shortlist of sites to visit within an agreed budget and timeline.Organising and assessing the shortlist of sites using an agreed assessment protocol. The postholder will have to travel to visit sites located throughout Britain, and this will require frequent overnight and multi-night stays away from home, so flexibility is essential. Liaising with landowners for access will be essential, as will taking responsibility for personal health and safety following FR procedures including the Forest Research PeopleSafe lone working system.

Data collection, management and collation:

• Undertaking fieldwork, reviewing shortlisted trials and planted woodlands. Surveying various stand parameters, health, natural regeneration etc and recording accurately for later analysis. Checking and collating data in an agreed format. When required, liaising with statisticians to ensure appropriate analysis is carried out. Sourcing and reviewing other data from outside Forest Research that may add value. Collaborating with colleagues to review and summarise any data. Working with the project lead using summarised results to update the Forest Research tree species database.

Communicating:

• Contributing to any written publications resulting from the project and if required, assist with presenting results to a wider audience.

Supporting:

• The work of the Science Group is diverse and offers opportunities for a variety of experiences and the role will include assisting and supporting other teams with delivering projects.

Person specification

The post holder should have strong interpersonal skills to allow them to liaise effectively with team members within FR and any external stakeholders. They will also need to be able to work autonomously and be well organised, to allow them to balance competing demands on their time.

Production of clear, accurate written work to describe field visits, outcomes of meetings and general correspondence will be required. There will be a requirement to contribute to reports and publications, and the opportunity of being involved in joint authorship of external publications.

Essential criteria:

• A degree in forestry or another plant based biological science or equivalent experience
• A strong interest in, or experience of, forest management or forest ecology
• Experience of involvement with data checking and handling
• Strong interpersonal skills and some experience of working in a team
• Good self-organisation and time management skills
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout Briain (including overnight stays) and confidently access often physically demanding sites in remote locations
• *Due to the remote nature of some of our fieldwork, a full current driving licence which allows you to drive in the UK is required

Desirable criteria:

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates.

• Experience in collecting field data
• Experience in writing reports
• Authorship of published reports / scientific papers
• Experience of scientific research.
• Membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters or a similar professional body

For more detail and to apply Silviculturist – Civil Service Jobs – GOV.UK