Employer: BirdLife International

Description:Georgia Important Bird Areas (IBA) Coordinator
Job Description

An Important Bird Area (IBA) is a place that provides essential habitat for one or more species of birds, whether in breeding season, winter, or during migration. These sites are considered to be exceptionally important for bird conservation. The Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program is a global group of partners coordinated by BirdLife International, with the National Audubon Society being the United States partner. These internationally based programs use landscape and management-based approaches to bird conservation. Taken together, these approaches are designed to help ensure the survival of all bird species.

The mission of the Georgia Important Bird Areas Program is to identify, monitor, conserve, and restore significant bird habitats in Georgia. The Georgia IBA program is a cornerstone of the Atlanta Audubon Society's (AAS) conservation platform. The primary goal of the Georgia IBA Program is to identify and conserve key breeding, wintering, and migratory sites for birds.
Duties:
The Coordinator will lead the IBA Program in Georgia and work with the IBA Advisory and IBA Technical Committees, volunteers, and other organizations, to coordinate all aspects of the program, including:
• continuing the ongoing work of developing and updating a list of priority species
• identifying monitoring needs, developing and implementing plans to meet them
• nominating Important Bird Area sites and submitting proposals for Global IBA status
• collecting necessary data to evaluate nominated sites
• serving as an advocate for sound management of birds on IBAs by attending stakeholder meetings, writing letters, and regularly communicating with decision makers at IBAs
• collaborating with partners to develop conservation plans for select IBAs
• enabling partners to implement conservation plans by
o assisting with meetings/consensus building
o helping to secure funds for IBA management projects either internally or through grant writing activities
o developing monitoring and evaluation strategies to track the success of management projects
• managing a network of volunteers to support the work, including engaging local Audubon chapters, the Georgia Ornithological Society, and others
• writing grants and raising funds to carry out program objectives
• communicating and networking with key stakeholders statewide including the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the various Georgia chapters of the National Audubon Society, the Georgia Ornithological Society, etc.
• raising awareness of the IBA program through a variety of channels, such as conferences, public outreach, articles, presentations, etc.
• updating the IBA portion of the AAS website and creating annual reports
• other duties directed by the IBA Advisory Committee and the board of the Atlanta Audubon Society.
Qualifications:
B.S. degree is required, with at least three years professional (not student) experience preferred, M.S. degree preferred, in biology, ecology, conservation biology, wildlife biology, ornithology, natural resources, or equivalent. Qualified applicants should have a sound knowledge of birds, bird monitoring, conservation, and be familiar with birds of the southeast. Applicants should have experience in program management and fund-raising. Applicants should be highly organized, be able to take the initiative with little direction, have strong interpersonal skills to effectively communicate with scientists, educators and the general public, possess solid computer skills, and demonstrate a passion for wildlife and habitat conservation.
Position Information:
This part time position will be contracted through the Atlanta Audubon Society. Salary and hours are negotiable and flexible. This is a consulting position, so no benefits are included. Job location may be at home office or at the AAS office. Work will require travel for meetings, observations of IBA sites, and gathering data for the IBA process.

Location: Atlanta

Qualifications:

Misc:

Documents:

Address:

Website:

Salary:

Benefits:

Deadline: May 31, 2008