Job Title: Landscape Ecologist, Integrated Species Conservation Section
Department: Flora Conservation
Work Location: KFBG
The Organisation
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) is a nature conservation and education centre that spreads over 148 hectares of land on the northern slopes of Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong's highest mountain. It lies in a valley, with a stream running down through the diverse (sub)tropical forest. You can find theme gardens, greenhouses, vegetable, and fruit terraces, walking trails, and public education displays of plants and animals, whilst the largest part of the estate is managed as a nature reserve.
Our team consists of educators, ecologists, botanists, zoologists, conservation officers, spatial analysts, veterinarians, geneticists, arborists, horticulturists, gardeners, animal keepers, farmers, communicators and marketeers. Lessons learnt from hundreds of projects and initiatives are used to raise awareness, educate the public and catalyse behaviour change to protect nature and the environment.
With more than half of the century serving Hong Kong dedicatedly, KFBG has been evolving focuses and now striving to harmonize humanity’s relationship with nature through 3 core aspects: Nature Conservation, Holistic Education, and Sustainable Living.
We are looking for a “Landscape Ecologist” who aligns with our vision and value and to be passionate to join the organisation to help making a difference.
For more information, please see www.kfbg.org and www.greenhub.org.
Major responsibilities
This is an individual contributor role. The incumbent will report to Senior Ecologist, Integrated Species Conservation Section.
Responsibility 1
- Conceptualise and lead scientific studies that address applied ecological questions relevant to the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem function, and which span multiple ecological and spatial scales.
- Develop and apply innovative approaches that integrate genetic, species, community and landscape data to better understand ecological processes and restoration outcomes.
- Apply quantitative, spatial and ecological modelling approaches to identify drivers of ecosystem function, resilience and biodiversity recovery.
- Integrate field observations, laboratory analyses, remote sensing and other technologies to develop evidence-based plant conservation and restoration strategies.
- Contribute to the development of emerging methodologies that connect ecological processes across ecological scales and improve restoration science and practice, including through the Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) framework.
Responsibility 2
- Support the Senior Ecologist and the Senior GIS Specialist in preparing research proposals, technical reports and project budgets.
- Liaise with and engage external collaborators, research institutions, government departments, consultants and students.
- Assist with field surveys, experimental studies and long-term ecological monitoring programmes within the department.
- Support the development and management of integrated ecological datasets that combine multiple data types and scales.
Responsibility 3
- Produce scientific papers and technical reports that advance restoration ecology and landscape conservation.
- Translate research findings into practical recommendations for restoration planning, adaptive management and conservation policy, especially at scale.
- Provide training and outreach to different stakeholders in fields including (but not limited to) plant conservation, restoration ecology, landscape ecology, ecological monitoring and quantitative ecological methods.
- Represent KFBG at scientific meetings, workshops and international conferences.
Responsibility 4
- Generate content for KFBG social media, blog posts and other forms of popular media to raise public awareness of plant conservation and ecological restoration.
- Assist with the planning and execution of occasional events and exhibitions that seek to bring conservation science to a wider lay audience.
- Handle other general administrative and operational duties of the Section/Department.
- Strive to work in line with KFBG values in pursuit of the Vision and Mission of the organisation, and to self-assess performance in this regard.
- Participate in activities arranged by KFBG.
Job Requirements
- A PhD in landscape ecology, restoration ecology, plant ecology, conservation science or a related discipline.
- A promising early career publication record demonstrating the application of multiscale ecological approaches to restoration, biodiversity conservation or ecosystem science.
- Demonstrated ability to integrate ecological information across multiple biological and spatial scales.
- A proven capacity to complete research projects on time and within budget.
- Experience supervising undergraduate and graduate students would be a plus.
- Experience using quantitative analytical approaches to investigate ecological processes, including proficiency in R and relevant statistical, spatial and/or modelling software.
- Familiarity with one or more of the following is desirable: remote sensing, GIS, ecological modelling, species distribution modelling, environmental DNA, genomics, trait-based ecology, network ecology, ecosystem monitoring or other emerging ecological technologies.
- Knowledge of the ecosystems and conservation challenges of Hong Kong, South China or tropical/subtropical Asia would be a distinct advantage.
- Strong communication skills (written and oral) in English and preferably also Chinese (Cantonese and/or Mandarin).
- A flair for bringing scientific findings to a wider, public audience.
- The ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team.
- Physically fit and comfortable conducting fieldwork.
- Willing to work occasionally on weekends or public holidays, as needed.
Application Method
Interested parties, please send your CV with current / last salary, expected salary and availability to the People & Culture Department, Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden Corporation, Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong or via email at ••••@kfbg.org