![]() Our local field staff only speaks Spanish (including the beach coordinator), and the research team will be a mix of different nationalities and cultures. Successful applicants are part of a small research team, and will spend much time with the other team members, due to long working hours, and shared quarters. Our RAs will live in a locally run cabina in Gandoca in shared quarters, and the local host will prepare three daily meals. ![]() Ultimately, we are expecting our RAs to be dependable assistants that help with any of our daily tasks and the ongoing research and being able to solve problems independently and proactively. Major parts will be at night, searching for nesting females. preparing and cleaning equipment, transferring data, beach cleanups, and surveys). In general, field work means long hours, little sleep, no weekends, no holidays, no fixed finishing times, and no predictable days off.Įach successful applicant will receive a training on-site on the incurring tasks. The work schedule will be very dynamic and will be structured as demanded by the workload, but the core work will encompass nightly patrols (rain or shine) of 5-8 hours six nights out of the week with one day off per week. Our RAs have the opportunity to help with any of the accruing tasks throughout the field season. We further collect samples to conduct diet studies using stable isotope analysis, and we attach a few satellite transmitters each year to study the habitat use of our turtles. We mark all individuals to estimate population size, we collect different types of data on the morphology and growth rate of individuals, we record the reproductive output of females, and we estimate the hatching success of nests and the numbers of hatchlings produced. Our work is a mix of conservation measures and scientific data collection. However, it has only recently been discovered that REGAMA also hosts one of the largest nesting aggregations of the critically endangered hawksbill turtle in Costa Rica, with 100 to 160 nests per year.įrom March until October each year, our project is conducting nightly patrols (rain or shine) to encounter nesting females (primarily leatherbacks and hawksbills) and study the nesting populations and to protect the females and their eggs from illegal harvesting. Once an important leatherback turtle nesting habitat, REGAMA's leatherback nesting population has decreased substantially in size in the past ten years (from former 300-800 nests per year to now 40-150 nests). Our project is protecting and studying the three resident sea turtle species that are using REGAMA for nesting: hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), and less frequently green turtles (Chelonia mydas). REGAMA also harbours coral reefs and seagrass beds, which are popular feeding sites for hawksbills and greens of different life stages. The sea turtle nesting habitat within REGAMA encompasses 9.8 km of beach adjacent to the small village of Gandoca and several smaller playitas between Gandoca and the community of Manzanillo. Our study site is the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge (REGAMA) in the very South of Costa Rica. Team 3 (five positions): July 29th – October 15th (hawksbill season) Team 2 (five positions): May 21st – August 9th (leatherback season and hawksbill season) Team 1 (five positions): March 10th – May 29th (leatherback season) This upcoming 2023 nesting season, we will have five spots per team available in our sea turtle conservation and research project in Gandoca, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. ![]() Agency COASTS Location Costa Rica Job Category Volunteer Openings Salary NA Last Date to Apply Website Description Volunteer Field Research Assistant Positions for 2023 Season!Įach year, we offer hands-on learning experiences volunteering as a field research assistant (RAs) for people interested in a career in marine conservation.
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