Temporary Blue Ridge Research Assistant

We seek a Temporary Blue Ridge Research Assistant to lay the groundwork for an ecological, cultural, and historical baseline assessment for a Conservation Corridor covering the most threatened section of the Blue Ridge Mountains (Loudoun, Fauquier, Clarke, and Jefferson counties). The survey will cover a range of biological conditions, as well as an evaluation of wildlife resources and their habitats. Existing land use patterns and ownership, historical and cultural properties, and infrastructure also will be evaluated. A regulatory and policy analysis will also be conducted and will cover federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies. Finally, a thorough evaluation of both natural and man-made threats will be included, priority mitigating measures described, and recommended actions identified. The assistants contribution to this important work will be to develop information and data needed to evaluate present ecological, biological, cultural and historical conditions and resources.

The Temporary Blue Ridge Research Assistant will be responsible for compiling a list of large property owners in the region, organizing information from the literature and records review into an annotated and referenced report that identifies information gaps and organizing all information and data into an easily accessible electronic folder, reviewing federal, state, and local regulations to identify relevant regulations and policies that are in place that help conserve or threaten the area, and identifying priority areas for conservation. He or she will also compile baseline information through a review of literature and existing records on flora and fauna in the designated area; air, soil, hydrologic, and geologic conditions; climate impacts; land use patterns; historical and cultural structures; and existing and planned infrastructure (where information is available), and complete other related tasks as assigned by the project manager.