Birds in Backyards Data Intern Needed!

BirdLife Australia offers a limited number of internship placements each year. We work in partnership with a number of Australia’s leading universities and other partners to offer a select number of undergraduate, post-graduate and early career placements within our projects and departments.

As an intern, you will work as part of a team in the areas of research, conservation, marketing and communications or fundraising in accordance with your field of study. Each internship is formulated to provide you with valuable experience and introduce you to the challenges and opportunities you will face in the working world.

Our placements offer practical experience into the daily operations of a not-for-profit conservation organisation and opportunities to work side by side with BirdLife Australia’s staff, many of whom are leaders in their fields of expertise. Our interns come from a diverse range of backgrounds, bringing with them fresh insights that add value to our organisation.

Birds in Backyards is currently seeking an intern with experience in data management and statistical analysis. 

The intern will help establish improved analysis and data management for this important urban birds program. It will assist in answering questions such as:

• What are the characteristics of gardens that attract small native birds?
• Are gardens with large aggressive species less likely to have small birds in it?
• Is there a characteristic suite of birds found in gardens where supplementary food is provided?
• Which bird species are behaving aggressively in gardens?
• Is there a temporal trend in Koel and Channel-billed Cuckoo arrivals each spring?

The intern will conduct analyses of the surveys to date, progress the basic data management of these surveys, and to set baseline methods of analyses going forward. They will be working with two databases – one pre-2012 and one post – that will need to be integrated to provide access to longitudinal data for analysis. There is opportunity for the intern to work with the Birds in Backyards team to determine the questions to be asked and the appropriate statistical analyses to use.

For details on the internship, please download the pdf on this page. Applications close – Friday October 31.