The California Academy of Sciences has a position as a Curatorial Assistant III open in the Botany Department. There is a link at the bottom or you can visit our web page, scroll to the bottom of the home page and you will find a link for “careers” at the bottom of the page.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Botanical Collections of the California Academy of Sciences contain more than 2.3 million specimens, including the largest collection of California vascular plants, historical collections from the Galapagos Islands and Mexico, and a rapidly growing collection of bryophytes. These collections are heavily used by researchers from around the world. The collections staff processes dozens of loan and image requests each year in addition to hosting scores of visiting researchers and students.
This is a full-time position to be filled by or before August 1, 2018. Under minimal supervision, the Curatorial Assistant III performs various duties related to collections acquisition, care and organization. In addition to ongoing departmental activities, the Curatorial Assistant III may undertake independent projects related to the maintenance and curation of collections. Assigned responsibilities range from average to difficult in nature and require advanced knowledge.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS:
- Processes specimens, including sorting, preparing, cataloging, preparing labels from field notebooks or digital sources, and integrating existing or incoming material, and assists with the maintenance of preparation and storeroom areas.
- Performs routine curatorial duties such as processing incoming and outgoing loans and other shipments. May assist in maintaining records of transactions.
- Assists in overseeing departmental digitization activities. Must become familiar with specimen database and assist in the training of other staff, students and volunteers in data entry. May include operating slide scanners, digital camera equipment, and image processing.
- Trains new staff, interns and volunteers in the processing, preparation and maintenance of collections and digitization activities.
- Assists visitors, students or scientists in the use of the collections.
- May assist Collection Manager with purchasing supplies and managing collections budget.
- May be asked to temporarily perform some of the duties of the Collections Manager when the incumbent in that position is away.
- Assists Collections Manager in maintaining the quality of information in the database. Includes verifying and updating information input by others; and uploading data from other database platforms
- Assists Curators in their research as appropriate.
- May undertake field trips related to collections development.
- May be asked to participate in or present talks at professional scientific meetings
- May be asked to serve on Academy-wide committees, or as a liaison for the Collections Manager on standing committees.
- May assist in the preparation of grant proposals.
- May be asked to give departmental tours and public demonstrations.
- May be asked to do library or archival research to answer inquiries or in the performance of routine curation of collections.
- May be asked to provide identifications consistent with education and training or experience appropriate to this position.
- May be asked to supply technical information, specimens and design input for Academy displays, to other Academy departments, or to other institutions.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:
A qualified candidate will have a combination of the following experience and/or equivalent education:
- Master’s degree with specialization in Systematic Botany; general knowledge of literature and curatorial procedures in Botanical collections; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Previous experience with museum collections is required for this position.
- Experience with organizing and participating in collecting expeditions is also desirable.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Good organizational and time-management skills
- Ability to work independently and cooperatively
- Ability to train and supervise Curatorial Assistants, Volunteers and Students
- Specific knowledge of systematic botany and the literature relevant to the field
- Familiarity with the California/western North American flora is a plus
- Thorough understanding of routine collection management tasks
- Knowledge of or demonstrated ability to learn new computer software, including Specify and other database platforms, and imaging processing are highly desirable. Specific knowledge of MicrosoftWord, Excel, and Google Apps as well as image capture and post processing software are a definite plus.