The Jordan Fellow at the Society for
Conservation Biology
The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) announces the establishment of the Jordan Policy
Fellowship to assist the Policy Director in participating in the United States policy process and
empowering SCB membership by helping them influence the policy process. The Policy Fellow
will assist the Director in bringing the principles and findings of natural resource conservation
science more fully into natural resource conservation law and policy, and in turn help scientists
understand and affect the policy process for the advancement of conservation. The initial tenure
of the Fellowship is one year, with successful performance leading to the opportunity for an
additional year extension, based on an evaluation of the previous year’s work.
The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) is a global community of conservation
professionals with nearly 10,000 members (resource managers, educators, government and
private conservation practitioners, informed members of the public, and students) dedicated to
advancing the science and practice of conserving the Earth’s biological diversity. More
information about SCB can be found at http://www.conbio.org, and its policies at
www.conbio.org/resources/policy.
The purpose of the Policy Fellowship is threefold:
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To expand the capacity of the SCB policy program,
To enhance the ability of SCB to integrate and advance conservation science and policy.
To build bridges across generations, disciplines and organizations, to ensure success in
the conservation and restoration of biological diversity, at both to the individual and
organizational level.
Benefits of the Fellowship include intensive training and work experience with a senior attorney,
with 30 years experience in conservation policy making, and senior members of the conservation
science and policy community in the United States. Work will focus on indentifying issues and
opportunities in U.S. policy, and developing the approaches and forging the alliances to create
successful campaigns. Training and professional development opportunities will also be
available, in conjunction with SCB’s Smith Fellowship program of post-doctoral science fellows.
Responsibilities include:
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Work with Policy Director, SCB leadership and membership and policy makers to
develop and manage proactive policy initiatives that emerge from cutting-edge
conservation science. Duties will include commenting on federal rulemaking, securing
expert witnesses, briefing legislators and staffs, and creating briefing documents for
policy-makers, the mass and social networking media, SCB members and the public.
Assist in building the capacity of SCB subgroups and issue task forces to craft and
implement SCB official responses to policy opportunities. Help maintain databases of
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policy contacts, experts, decisions and resources for the Executive Office and SCB
members.
Help the policy program to maintain communications, research technologies, and
methods for creating and sharing information with SCB members and others.
Establish and maintain a well-coordinated system of hard and soft copy files and software
for policy.
Explore and advance opportunities for collaborative activities with other organizations.
Help to keep SCB members apprised of conservation policy issues by researching and
summarizing policy developments as directed by the Policy Director; and identifying,
using and recommending training opportunities and web-based policy toolkits.
Prepare reports from the basic day-to-day work of a policy office to groundbreaking new
applications of science and law.
Help produce regular reports and occasional bulletins to members, the public, donors,
partners, formal and informal coalition members and policy makers, and contribute to the
research and writing of those reports.
Qualifications:
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Working knowledge of conservation science and the ability to translate the language and
needs of scientists into the language and needs of policy-makers.
Experience preferred in conceiving and achieving policy reforms, building partnerships
among NGOs and conservation scientists, and working with lawmakers.
JD or MS in public policy, or relevant field(s), with an advanced degree in law or
conservation policy preferred.
Familiarity with legal and scientific notation.
Excellence in written and oral communication and interpersonal skills. Must be able to
synthesize voluminous, complex and diverse material into information that audiences will
find understandable, engaging and compelling.
Ability to work both as a member of a team, and independently with minimal
supervision.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and work with a wide range of people. Demonstrated
sensitivity and discretion in all aspects of work.
Energetic, personable, with management and leadership experience, and excellent
organizational skills, with the ability to coordinate and prioritize among a multitude of
tasks and responsibilities.
Ability to identify and pursue opportunities, to follow through on projects once initiated,
to organize resources and actions, and to produce on schedule.
Computer literate and proficient, preferably in both PC and Mac systems, software and
internet browsers. Experience with advanced editing, layout and presentation software an
asset.
Experience and proficiency in blog and website maintenance and social networking
technologies desirable.
Experience in fundraising and development an asset.
This position is located in Washington, DC.
Compensation: $45,000-60,000, plus benefits including medical, dental and vision
insurance.
Please send a cover letter by May 31, 2011 that includes a description of one to three
papers, software applications or other products or tools that you would like to write or
create over the course of the fellowship, with the understanding that this work will not
require more than several hours of your time per week on average. Also include a resume,
one writing sample, and three references (name, phone & email). Application materials can
be sent to: Policy Fellowship Selection Committee, c/o jobapplications@conbio.org
(Subject: Policy Fellowship) No phone calls, please.