announcements

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Job: Student Research Assistant (Digitization)

Job Title: Student Research Assistant (Digitization)

Project Title: Linking the Digital Humanities to Biodiversity History in Singapore and Southeast Asia

Project Description: This project looks at the proliferation and establishment of invasive species in Singapore and wider Southeast Asia, tracking their distribution overtime. The end product of this project is an interactive map that shows changes in biodiversity of invasive species overtime to draw connections with historical and current environmental changes and events.

Job Description:
• Key activities include:
o Digitization of library materials for data mining and cataloguing purposes
o Be onsite to carry out cataloguing of books
o Learn the cataloguing module in Sierra, the library system
o Learn basic cataloguing tools like MARC tags, RDA, etc.
o Check for duplicate titles against the library system
o If no duplicates are found, check for matching records and overlay where necessary
o Update the bibliographic record
o Add/update the item records

• Qualifications
o Proactive and good communicator
o Able to work independently as well as collaborate with others
o Detail-oriented
o Experience with digitization, data mining, data entry, and OCR is a plus
o Proficiency in Southeast Asian languages a plus

• Expected workload: 20 hours/month

Duration
May 2022 – May 2023

Renumeration
$20/hour

To apply
Informal enquiries may be made to Ms. Tricia Cho (triciacho@nus.edu.sg). Please include a cover letter and full CV your application. Only shortlisted applicants will be notified.

-end-

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Retiring in June 2022: Alex Ip and Wong Sek Man – wish them well!

Announced at the last department faculty meeting – Alex Ip and Wong Sek Man, our physiologist/parasitologist and plant virologist will retire in June 2022. Former students who wish to wish them well can look up their emails on the department webpage. Maybe a time to catch a cup of coffee with these veterans!

Screenshot 3583

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Lecturer in Plant Ecology and Conservation Biology

The Department of Biological Sciences (DBS), National University of Singapore (NUS), invites applications for an educator track faculty position at the Lecturer level in Plant Ecology and Conservation Biology. Candidates possessing evidence of high-quality teaching, a good publication record, and relevant working and teaching experience in a related field are encouraged to apply. The candidate is expected to teach as well as develop graduate and undergraduate modules—either individually or in collaboration with department colleagues and/or industrial partners—in plant ecology and conservation biology.

The position is based in DBS. The department has over 60 full-time faculty members (including 10 on educator track) with diverse research expertise in three focal areas (Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity; Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology; and Biophysical Sciences) and over 300 full-time graduate students from 19 countries. Teaching and research facilities and support are world-class and the university (www.nus.edu.sg) and department (www.dbs.nus.edu.sg ) are highly regarded internationally. The department has a strong Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity group that is active and expanding its teaching and research in various areas; one such area being the Masters by coursework programme in Biodiversity Conservation and Nature-Based Climate Solutions. In addition to undergraduate teaching, the candidate will be expected to also contribute to the development, teaching, and running of this professional development and continuing education programme. Experience in teaching adult learners will therefore also be an advantage.

NUS offers internationally competitive salary packages in Singapore’s low-tax environment. The Department is committed to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty, and female and minority candidates are encouraged to apply for the position.

Interested, strong candidates with a PhD and relevant postdoctoral experience should submit a letter of intent describing their career goals, teaching plans and research interests; a curriculum vitae; and a list of names for 6 relevant referees (including at least 3 academic referees).

External applicants
Applications can be submitted throughout the year through this LINK.

Applicants from NUS
Applicants from NUS are to apply via this LINK

Closing date of application: 26 March 2021

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Prof Dennis Hugh “Paddy” Murphy, beloved teacher, mentor and friend, R. I. P. – Share your lovely memories of him with us!

Prof “Paddy” Murphy RIP

Prof “Paddy” Murphy passed away peacefully on the afternoon of Saturday 7th November 2020. He was 89.

We announced his passing on the NUS Biodiversity Crew Facebook page the same day, and his family and his kakis at NUS have placed an obituary in The Straits Times tomorrow, in the hope of informing his many friends and students from over the decades. 

Share your memories with the family and the community

He has endowed a rich legacy on all of us and triggered fond recollections by students from over half a century! We invite you to share your stories of him with all of us at this form https://tinyurl.com/paddymurphy-rip . We will post our collective memories here and share them with biologists and naturalists past and present!  

Paddy Murphy RIP orbituary

Kakis of D H Murphy at NUS

 

Some related links:

  • “Visiting Prof Murphy,” 27 Nov 2018 [link]
  • “King of Mangroves D H “Paddy” Murphy,” 26 Nov 2008 [link] 
  • “Prof Dennis Murphy: The zoologist extraordinaire,” 27 Dec 2008 [link]
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Job: Sustainable Solutions Specialist (Flora)

With Wildlife Reserves Singapore; see link.

Job Duties And Responsibilities

  • End to End management of the permanent flora monitoring plots in forested environment including the processing and analysing the data
  • Mandai Ecological Restoration Plan – Map and assess plots for ecological restoration or habitat enhancement and soil seed bank investigation. Investigate suitable planting methods for respective plots
  • Support Softscape Taskforce and construction teams with flora issues such as analysing the arborist reports, working on solutions for replanting and be a subject matter expert on flora issues.
  • Analyse Arboreal Connectivity in the Mandai over time and space as development progresses to provide scientific rigour and basis for mitigation measures
  • Manage Tree Inventory for Mandai with the aim to reconcile to prepare for handover to operators upon project completion
  • Guide and onboard the WRS operator team to be more familiar with development flora work to prepare for handover in future
  • Support the carbon accounting framework with tree carbon sequestration data and calculation
  • Support the operations of Mandai Wildlife Bridge

Job Requirements

  • Minimum Masters’ Degree or Honours Degree in ecology; environmental conservation and/or related fields
  • At least 4 to 7 years of relevant experience in managing flora and ecological related projects
  • Strong in analytical skills and be able to understand the balance between development and ecological considerations
  • Ample field experience and proficient in planning and managing outfield activities
  • Good network and rapport with the local nature community and other environmental groups
  • Prior research experience and developmental background will be an advantage
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Job for fresh grad (9-months; immediate): seagrass/mangrove surveys and experiments!

Vacancy for SGUnited Traineeship (9 months) @ St John’s Island National Marine Lab 

Research Apprenticeship (STEM) in Marine Science

We have one position available for interested candidate who is able to start in early August. 

This traineeship focuses on emerging Blue Carbon Research in the Marine Science Research and Development Program. (MSRDP) Program. Blue carbon refers to the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrasses. The trainee will assist in research related to marine science and blue carbon research. These will include ecological studies of coastal ecosystems around Singapore such as seagrass communities.  The traineeship may include short industrial attachments to learn about environment management. 

Requirements:

  1. Bachelor’s Degree with Honours in Environmental Science, or related field (Class of 2019/2020).  
  2. Proficient with Microsoft Word and Excel 
  3. Effective oral and written management communication skills
  4. Preferably some experience in field work, GIS, mapping techniques and statistics.  

Learning Plan:

  1. Project planning, management and sampling
  2. Data collection, handling and reporting in marine science research. 
  3. Articulation of various aspects of marine science research and relevance to Singapore

If you are interested to be considered for the traineeship, please send your CV to Dr Ow Yanxiang (tmsowyx@nus.edu.sg) by Sat 1 August 2020 (ASAP).