Carnegie Museum of Natural History seeks a Curatorial Assistant in the Section of Amphibians and Reptiles as part of a three-year National Science Foundation CSBR grant.
Primary duties will be to alleviate overcrowded conditions in specimen jars and tanks by rehousing portions of the collection, updating taxonomy within the collection and reorganize it to reflect that taxonomy, assist with cataloguing a backlog of specimens, and work extensively to improve the database. The curatorial assistant will also digitize images of specimens, some within the main collection, and then some of those catalogued during the grant. Paper records will be organized in the archives including field catalogs and select portions digitized and made available with the on-line databases of VertNet and iDigBio. There will be some supervision of work-study students and volunteers.
Preference would be for someone who has a Master’s degree in herpetology or museum studies, with experience working in a fluid systematic collection within a natural history museum. The worker should be able to climb stairs, stoop, carry, reach and lift heavy containers of specimens. Attention to detail and excellent organizational skills is imperative to the project. Proficiency with Microsoft Office programs, including Word, Access, and Outlook, as well as the Internet for research is required; familiarity with Datamax thermal transfer printer, and KE EMu would be beneficial but not required. Experience in georeferencing locations using various tools would be advantageous.
The hired person is expected to spend significant time working with specimen stored in ethanol and some time with a fume hood for formalin preserved specimens.
The completed application will address all required and preferred qualifications in a cover letter, will include a CV, and the address/email contacts/telephone numbers of three professional references who have agreed to be contacted. The deadline for the submission of applications is October 14th 2016.
Applications MUST to be submitted through this link:
http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/interior.php?pageID=12
The requisition number for the job is 1266. (If you click on Search, it will bring up the list of jobs.)