Merlin Media Coordinator

Details

Posted: 11-Mar-24

Location: Ithaca, New York

Type: Full-time

Salary: Open

Categories:

Staff/Administrative

Internal Number: 3-79535

Merlin Media Coordinator

Join Our Team as the Merlin Media Coordinator at the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University!

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University embraces diversity and seeks candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty, and staff of all identities and backgrounds. We strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.

About The Department

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a globally recognized leader in technology, data management, and large-scale citizen science supporting birds and biodiversity conservation. We curate more than a petabyte of digital assets, one billion bird sightings, and leverage innovative big data analysis tools and machine learning to produce web applications and services to empower a global community of bird and nature enthusiasts, researchers, conservationists, and educators.

The Lab is in an incredible growth phase and navigating exciting challenges to scale our data-driven tools and services for conservation communities in all corners of the globe. eBird collaborates with hundreds of regional organizations in more than 80 countries who are using eBird, Merlin Bird ID, Birds of the World, and other resources as a platform to advance their conservation goals.

About The Opportunity

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is seeking a creative, mission-driven Merlin Media Coordinator based in the Macaulay Library to focus on creating bird identification resources incorporated into the Merlin Bird ID app. This role will join a team that shares the mission of connecting people to nature and conservation through birds and birding. As part of a team of software engineers, outreach specialists, machine learning researchers, and conservation scientists this role will be key for creating new features that inspire a global community to participate in watching birds, collecting data, and participating in bird conservation activities.

The Merlin Media Coordinator’s primary responsibility is to develop next-generation bird identification resources and natural history information presented within the app that is highly engaging, scientifically accurate, and able to scale to help people in every country identify the birds of their region. We are looking for someone with deep expertise in bird identification and connections to the global birding community, who is passionate about increasing conservation activity within the birding community.

To support new and experienced birders, the successful candidate will have advanced birding skills and be able to: identify birds by sight and sound, add age/sex labels (and other metadata) to birds in images/recordings, gather media in the field (sounds, photos, video), teach advanced bird identification, and demonstrate in-depth understanding of geographic variation, migration, behavior, and avian taxonomy.

This role will contribute to the Merlin, eBird, and Macaulay Library in the following ways:

Create Ground-breaking Bird Identification Resources: Provide strategic leadership by creating new concepts for bird identification and natural history resources to inspire and support a global community using Merlin to identify birds and collect data.

Data Quality & Media Collections Development : Improve data quality for Merlin and eBird by building participants identification skills. Utilize bird expertise and specialized knowledge of videography, sound recording and photography to design, implement, build resources that supports gathering high-quality, scientifically valuable data via eBird/Macaulay Library from a global community. Serve as a subject matter expert reviewing Macaulay Library and eBird data products and media sets for accuracy.

Software Development Coordination: Collaborate with Technical Project Managers and Product Designers to translate complex, abstract concepts, and new ideas for helping people identify birds into information and features that are easy for the public to understand, use, and enjoy. Create a production schedule for bird identification materials and curated datasets that will integrate into new Merlin features.

Project Development : Collaborate with the Merlin/eBird project team to develop strategies to engage and retain more users, better support people who are new to watching birds, and deepen the users connection with birds, conservation and the organization.

Field Expeditions: Lead or participate in expeditions or field research when sound recordist, guide, team leader, or natural history videographer or photographer is needed.

This position is located at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, NY, with a hybrid work arrangement, expected to be on-site three or four days a week.

What We Need

The successful candidate will have a bachelor’s degree in biology, ecology, science communications, information science, or related field.

• Knowledge of birds of the world, including advanced field identification skills by sight and sound of thousands of species of birds, ability to identify birds to age/sex and subspecies, understanding of geographic variation, migration, bird behavior, and avian taxonomy.
• 3+ years of experience teaching bird identification and developing related materials.
• 3+ years of experience in the field, collecting media of birds (photos, sounds, video), curating metadata, and producing media and bird identification resources.
• Deep understanding of the birding community and their needs in field identification resources.
• Experience working on writing and/or illustration projects to advance birdwatching and bird conservation and engage the public in these activities.
• Project management skills to coordinate multiple people working towards the same deliverable and timeline for public launch.
• High level of proficiency with content management systems to manage curated materials.
• High level of proficiency editing media using specialized software, such as Adobe Audition and Photoshop.
• Proficiency in bird videography and video editing software, such as Adobe Premiere.
• Strong interpersonal skills to develop trust with external collaborators and encourage participation in projects.
• Provide high level of initiative to anticipate needs of the project and fulfill project objectives with very minimal supervision.
• Ability to prioritize activities and exercise sound judgement in discussions with external collaborators.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.

• Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Ability to travel to remote field locations when necessary.
• Must have ability to obtain and maintain a valid passport and driver’s license.

Preferably the successful candidate will also have the following;

• Experience working on content integrated into mobile apps.
• Graphic design and/or illustration.
• Proficiency in Spanish to communicate with communities in Latin America.

Rewards and Benefits

No Visa Sponsorship is available for this position.

How to Apply:

You must submit both a Resume and Cover letter.

Cornell University is an innovative Ivy League university and a great place to work. Our inclusive community of scholars, students, and staff impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas to further the university’s mission of teaching, discovery, and engagement.

Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University’s heritage. We are a recognized employer and educator valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations.

University Job Title:

Extension Supp Spec I

Job Family:

Academic Support

Level:

E

Pay Rate Type:

Salary

Pay Range:

$58,660.00 – $63,133.00

Remote Option Availability:

Hybrid Remote

Company:

Contract College

Contact Name:

Denise Smith

Job Titles and Pay Ranges:

Non-Union Positions

Noted pay ranges reflect the potential pay opportunity for each job profile. The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering the following criteria:

• Prior relevant work or industry experience

• Education level to the extent education is relevant to the position

• Unique applicable skills

• Academic Discipline (faculty pay ranges reflects 9-month annual salary)

Union Positions

Current Employees:

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Notice to Applicants:

EEO Statement:

Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University’s heritage. We are a recognized employer and educator valuing AA/EEO, and we do not tolerate discrimination based on any protected characteristic, including race, ethnic or national origin, citizenship and immigration status, color, sex/gender, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, creed, religion, actual or perceived disability (including persons associated with such a person), arrest and/or conviction record, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender expression and/or identity, an individual’s genetic information, domestic violence victim status, familial status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations in accordance with applicable law.

Cornell University embraces diversity and seeks candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty, and staff to all identities and backgrounds. We encourage individuals from underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.

2024-03-08