ICRISAT-Bamako wishes to appoint a GIS assistant on behalf of its sister institute ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute) to carry out spatial characterization and analysis work in the Gambia, Guinea, Mali and Senegal for a GEF project on « Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock of West Africa ».
Responsibilities : The incumbent will be responsible for the development and maintenance of GIS, remote sensing and natural resource databases. Specifically, s/he will contribute to the following project activities under the natural resource management component : (i) determine project site boundaries, (ii) assemble baseline datasets on climate, vegetation, soils, settlements, topography, infrastructure for project sites, (iii) identify and classify ecosystem types in project sites, (iv) analyze the existing natural resource use patterns, and recent/ongoing trends in landscap change, (v) analyze livestock migration/transhumance patterns, (vi) maintain and update spatial natural resource databases for the project.
Requirements : The successful candidate will have a M.Sc. or Eng. degree, preferably in Geography, Ecology or Agricultural Sciences.
S/he will have at least 2 years practical experience in the use of ArcGIS and digital image analysis software (ERDAS Imagine, ENVI), and demonstrated skills in the use of GPS technologies. Strong skills in organisizing ground data collection missions, interacting with rural communities, and maintaining multidisciplinary datasets in GIS environments are required. The candidate will be fluent in French and English. The appointment will be for one year starting immediately, renewable up to 3 years subject to performance.
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are nonprofit, non-governmental organizations par of the Alliance of Future Harvest Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ILRI works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality science and capacity-building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. ILRI operates in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, with offices in East and West Africa, South and Southeast Asia, China and Central America. ICRISAT does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. ICRISAT’s mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture.
Location : The GIS assistant will be based in Bamako wihtin the IER-Sotuba joint GIS facility. S/he will work closely with the project coordinator and other ILRI scientists involved in the project. Proximal backstopping will be availed by the GIS Head, ICRISAT, Sotuba.
The application deadline is April 13, 2008.
Applications, including Curriculum vitae and the names and contact details of three professional referees (including telephone, fax numbers and email address), should be sent to Drs. Abdou Fall, ILRI, P.O. Box 320, Bamako, Mali, Tel : +223 222-3375. Fax : +223 222-8683