Proyecto de chiltepin en el Río Sonora

Oportunidad de trabajo en el Valle del Río Sonora el próximo otoño 2009.

Field Assistant Needed for 3-5 Weeks Field Work this Fall in the Rio Sonora Valley.

We are looking for a field assistant to help with our research on the socio-economic significance of chiltpeins in the Rio Sonora Valley. This research is interdisciplinary overlapping the fields of geography, ethnobotany, conservation biology, and anthropology. Currently we are looking for one female field assiant to conduct household surveys in several Rio Sonora Valley communities. Our research methods involve interviewing females and males from the same household and we have found from past experiences that it is beneficial to have a male interview the males and a female interview the females.

Dates: the research will be done in late Oct into Nov. The set dates depend on the timing of the chiltepin harvest.

Qualifications:
- you must speak Spanish and some English
- be comfortable interviewing people
- be comfortable in rural communities (there may be dogs and other domestic animals around the home)
- be able to put in long days Monday-Friday

What is in it for you?
- I will cover travel, accommodation and food costs
- I will pay on a per survey basis (likely 100 or 150 pesos per survey depending on survey length and number of surveys to be completed)
- you will gain experience using household survey methods
- you will have a unique opportunity to spend a few weeks in a beautiful place learning about a really interesting plant of social/cultural and economic significance

About me:
I am a faculty member at Willamette University in Salem, OR in the Dept of Environmental Science and the Latin American Studies Program. I have research experience working on maize with farmers in Central Mexico, indigenous peoples in rural British Columbia, and farming organizations in the Willamette Valley. I also have a background in ecological restoration, non-wood forest products and agriculture. I work closely with a number of student collaborators. This research on chiltepins will be a multi-year program that I am just beginning. For a bit more information see: (http://www.willamette.edu/cla/ees/faculty/chambers/index.php) If you are interested, please email me a brief note about how you found out about this opportunity and why you are interested, plus attach a resume to your message, and include names and contact information for three references. One of your references should be able to speak on behalf of your ability with Spanish (if it is not your first language). Please feel free to ask any questions that you might have.

Kimberlee J Chambers,
PhD Geography, Specializing in Ethnoecology, and Agrobiodiversity
Willamette University
kimberlee_chambers@yahoo.ca