Southwest Region Field Technician

Southwest Region Field Technician

Forest Stewards Guild

Santa Fe, NM

Company Description

The Forest Stewards Guild, a national organization of foresters and allied natural resource professionals, is dedicated to practicing and promoting responsible forestry as a means of sustaining the integrity of forest ecosystems and the human communities dependent upon them. The Guild has 600 members, over half of whom are professionals who manage over 42 million acres of forestland in the United States and Canada. The Guild maintains regional offices in New Mexico, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Job Summary

The Forest Stewards Guild currently has a field technician position open to complete research and collaborative forestry field work during the Summer of 2022. The research element will investigate how to reduce human-caused wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico. To support this research effort, the Southwest Region field technician will, 1) contribute to a Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) research project focused on human-caused wildfire ignitions in partnership with Northern Arizona University; 2) survey public land users about their knowledge of fire prevention, spending approximately 4 weeks in the field. To support collaborative forestry field work, the field technician will complete pre- and post- treatment monitoring on a variety of forest restoration projects in Northern New Mexico, and complete outreach about wildfire risk to forest adjacent communities.

The field technician will have the opportunity to learn and use a suite of social science tools and software like NVivo, SPSS and Qualtrics.  

This position is well-suited for a student interested in forest recreation, public land management, human dimensions of forestry, fire ignitions, and/or gaining research experience. The Field Technician will have the opportunity to meet and make connections with fire prevention specialists across the Southwest from a range of agencies.  

Candidates should be deeply rooted in Southwestern forests and communities, have education and experience in natural resource management and/or social science, and bring strong organizational and communication skills.

Position Description

The successful candidate will have or be pursuing a degree in outdoor recreation, forestry, fire science, ecology, natural resource management, or related field with professional experience. This individual will have excellent organizational, communication, and written skills, possess the ability to work alone, outdoors, and in remote locations, and demonstrate a passion for advancing wildfire science and management, and forest management across the Southwest. Previous experience in field data collection related to outdoor recreation, forestry, natural resource management or wildland fire in the region, coupled with project management experience, is highly desirable.

The Southwest field technician will support activities related to a JFSP research project focused on wildfire prevention, which may include:

Completing a 1-week training in Flagstaff, Arizona in early June.

Conducting 4 weeks of in-person field surveys across multiple locations in New Mexico and Arizona during the Summer of 2022.

Organization and storage of survey data.

Effective communication with the research team and interagency research advisory group.

The Southwest field technician will support general monitoring and outreach for the Forest Stewards Guild, which may include:

Completing pre- and post- treatment monitoring on forest restoration sites across Northern New Mexico.

Supporting outreach and education to increase awareness of wildfire risk through the Fire Adapted New Mexico learning network (FACNM).

The research technician will work closely with our Southwestern regional staff, based out of Santa Fe.

The successful individual will:

Assist with the collection and analysis of survey data related to human-caused wildfire ignitions.

Be outgoing and respectful to survey participants.

Be willing to travel and work outside in Arizona and New Mexico for several weeks.

Assist Project Mangers with tracking research deliverables for the JFSP project.

Maintain relationships with diverse project partners across multiple states and agencies.

Represent the Guild at professional conferences or events and occasionally perform public speaking, such as PowerPoint presentations or panel discussions.