BIOLOGIST I
About The Position
The San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat) is seeking a full-time, temporary Invertebrate Zoologist (Biologist I) to support the Invertebrate Zoology and BioServices Departments. This role assists the Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and other assigned supervisory staff with laboratory investigations of pollinators in San Diego County, focusing on Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera. The position is part of a project examining plant-pollinator interactions, aiming to identify unknown pollinators of rare plants using advanced field and lab technologies. Key duties include specimen identification, digitization, macro photography of pinned specimens, and contributing to an AI training dataset for San Diego pollinators.
Requirements
- B.S. in Biology, Entomology, Zoology, Ecology or a related discipline.
- Experience with pollinators (Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera) from the southern California region.
- Experience with macro photography of arthropods, macro photography equipment, and photo processing techniques.
- Knowledge of AI and computer vision approaches.
- A valid Driver’s License and a clean driving record.
Nice To Haves
- M.S. in Biology, Entomology, Zoology, Ecology, or a related discipline.
- Familiarity with relevant lab techniques and instruments.
- Ability to think creatively regarding macrophotography in the context of AI training data.
- Skilled in AI / machine learning algorithms, specifically computer vision models and applications.
- Skilled in programming languages (e.g., Python, R, Unix/Linux).
- Experience working in museum collections.
Responsibilities
- Imaging of specimens, including lab photography with an in-house camera setup, high-quality 2D imaging, image stacking, processing, and file management using standardized protocols.
- Conducting field-based macro photography.
- Creating an AI training data set based on macro photographs of preserved specimens and existing photos of live specimens to automatically identify pollinators from images.
- Familiarity with pollinator identification (Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera) and morphology.
- Specimen sorting, preparation (e.g., pinning), data entry, and contributions to report writing.
Benefits
- Health insurance
- Vacation
- Sick-time
- 15 paid holidays
- Free admission into all of Balboa Park’s museums
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
