Volunteer with Connecting Country – Biodiversity data officer

Posted on 11 June, 2019 by Jess

Do you have skills and interests in data management and collation? Interested in contributing to biodiversity conservation in the Mount Alexander Region, but prefer to work in a friendly office environment?

Connecting Country’s biodiversity monitoring

Adding our records into the VBA will help protect species like this Brush-tailed Phascogale (photo by Jess Lawton)

Connecting Country’s biodiversity monitoring began in 2010 and is central to our ongoing efforts towards habitat restoration and healthy environments in the Mount Alexander Region. Rigorous, long-term monitoring is essential to determine if threatened species are declining, or on-ground habitat restoration is successfully increasing populations of at-risk species, such as the brush-tailed phascogale and woodland birds. Connecting Country monitors birds, arboreal mammals, and frogs and reptiles. To date we have collected over 23,425 bird records.

As part of our Habitat Health Check Project, we are reviewing our long-term monitoring programs, empowering our community to monitor biodiversity, and, importantly, ensuring that the data we collect is being shared and used appropriately.

We’re sharing our bird and mammal data so it can be useful to all

The Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA) is a web-based information system designed to manage information about native and species present in Victoria. The VBA species observations are a foundation dataset that feeds into many biodiversity tools used in the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s everyday decision making. It shows where wildlife is now and how this has changed over time. It provides a core input to government processes, decisions and programs that impact native species.

The biodiversity data officer will coordinate the significant task of entering Connecting Country’s historic data sets into the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas. Entry of fauna records into the VBA is an essential part of Connecting Country’s ongoing efforts towards habitat enhancement and healthy environments in the Mount Alexander Region. Adding records to the VBA is also a way to influence a range of government investment, regulation and management decisions.

Biodiversity data officer role

This is a volunteer role that would suit someone who is available to commit to working from the Connecting Country Office in Castlemaine VIC for around one day a week. We’ll provide training on how to use the VBA. Please click here to see the position description for this role, or feel free to contact jess@connectingcountry.org.au (Mondays and Tuesdays) for more information.