The Biodiversity Information Development programme aims to establish a community of practice to improve data acquisition and sharing, analysis, and scholarly publication using GBIF data. The project is focused on enhancing national-level capacity to use Biodiversity Information Development (BID) data on endangered bird species in Kenya under three objectives: 1) integrating GBIF Biodiversity Information Development data into conservation decision-making via conservation policy briefs created in collaboration with graduate students, early-career scientists, and conservation managers; 2) enhancing the use of BID data by graduate students and early-career scientists through the publication of peer-reviewed articles; 3) strengthening the capacity of conservation managers to collect policy-relevant biodiversity data through citizen science.

This call engages all eligible graduate students (Masters or Ph.D. levels), early-career scientists, and conservation managers in Kenya to submit their applications to the Center for Biodiversity Information Development (BID-C), Strathmore University.

Slots Available:

• Graduate students: 5 (Masters – 3, Ph.D. – 2)
• Early career scientists: 5 (Former IFS grantees – 3, Open – 2)
• Conservancy managers: 5

Eligibility criteria:

• Applicants must demonstrate research interest in endangered bird species in Kenya.
• The student applicant must be registered in an accredited university (Masters or Ph.D.) and currently in their research years in Ecology, Wildlife Management, Bioinformatics, Biodiversity conservation, Zoology, Environmental science, Geoinformatics, Environmental Policy, Natural Resource Management, or related fields.
• Applicants who are conservation managers must be currently working in one of the Kenyan community conservancies and hold an undergraduate degree from an accredited university in Biodiversity conservation or related fields.
• Early career scientists should demonstrate a track record of biodiversity-related research supervision, currently working in a university or research institution with at least 2 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and supervised at least 1 student at the graduate level.
• All applicants must demonstrate at least the basic working knowledge of R

Application & Selection Timeline:

Step 1: Applications open on 8^th April 2022 and will close on 5th May 2022

Step 2: Initial shortlisting

Step 3: Panel review of shortlisted applications and selection of the BID fellows

Step 4: Communication to selected BID fellows by 13th May 2022

Step 5: Receipt of the signed letters of agreement from the selected BID fellows

Step 6: Students’ orientation and induction will be conducted thereafter.

Application Requirements:

1. Submit your current CV.
2. Submit your letter of motivation.
3. Conservation managers will be required to submit reference letters from the relevant umbrella organization e.g. KWCA, NRT, etc. in addition to the above
4. Student applicants will submit a letter of reference from their lead supervisor in addition to 1&2 above.
5. Student applicants will submit proof of registration as a student e.g. certified university admission letter and transcripts/coursework completion letter (not confined to Kenyan universities).

Applications should be sent as a single PDF file to vmuniu@strathmore.edu on or before 5th May 2022 with the subject: Application for Biodiversity Information Development (Bid) Fellows 2022