[Bgsa] alternative to being a grad student

[Sharon Coe]

Is the outside world looking more rosy than your grad office 
cubicle these days? This is news about a job or a potential 
one. The person who emailed me is Shauna McDonald, who got 
her Master's here with Mary PRice.

Sharon


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Hi.  I wanted to let you know about this, in case you or 
someone you 
know might be interested.  I got a call today from Melody 
Aimar, field 
biologist with the Santa Ana Watershed Association (SAWA) in 
Riverside.  
They asked me if I would consider moving back to Riverside 
to go to 
work for them, but I told them I wouldn't leave my new job.  
I told them 
I'd spread the word that they need help.

SAWA recently became a non-profit and they do a lot of great 
stuff in 
the Inland Empire.  They do a lot of field work.  SAWA has 
done a really 
good job fighting Arundo donax and has done wonders for 
least Bell's 
vireo, with their surveys, nest monitoring and cowbird 
trapping/cowbird 
egg removal.  I know these folks because when I was with the 
Center for 
Natural Lands Management, we partnered with them to help us 
with vireos 
and in exchange, I trained them on rodents.  I was on their 
permits so 
that I could do some of the cowbird trapping and supervised 
nest 
monitorning.  They also do a lot of herps stuff (Melody just 
rescued about 
200 metamorphosing spadefoots in Sycamore Canyon when their 
pond began to 
dry too early).  They were even doing bat work last summer.  
Their 
weaknesses are with rodents and insects (e.g. Quino 
checkerspot).  They 
have Dick Zembal, who is a very experienced Stephens' krat 
person, but he 
is too far up in the organization to do much field work.  
They're a 
really great bunch and I like them immensely.  They have 
lost a couple of 
biologists who left to do consulting.

Anyhow, here is their website:  www.sawarcd.com.  I think 
that they may 
be behind in updated the job announcements, since I took a 
look and 
there aren't any permnanent jobs listed.  I know they didn't 
expect me to 
move back for a temporary job.  If anyone is interested, 
check out 
their website and email me--I can give you Melody's cell #.

- Shauna


       
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Sharon Coe
PhD Candidate
Department of Biology
UC Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
coes01 at student.ucr.edu
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