River ecologist

In partnership with Save the River Usk and following the success of the Big Ranunculus Watch, Friends of the River Wye are seeking an experienced Project Lead to manage a new three-year programme focused on collecting evidence to contribute to the recovery of water crowfoot (Ranunculus) across the Welsh Wye and Usk.

This role will hold overall responsibility for delivering the project, including public engagement (with a strong citizen science component) and coordination with scientific partners, regulators and other stakeholders. Reporting to a dedicated steering group including trustees/leaders from FORW and Save the Usk experienced in local Citizen Science work. This programme is anticipated to last at least the next three growing seasons and will include preparing an overall project report and evaluation report, to include recommendations for future monitoring of water crowfoot and management options to help safeguard this keystone species and SAC feature.

Responsibilities

Fieldwork coordination and data gathering

• Collate and supplement existing records of the water crowfoot plant assemblage.
• Undertake surveys at key sites, including ground-based and drone-assisted remote sensing.
• Establish and document a baseline of images and botanical records for public access and future comparison.
• Agree specification for and commission drone and specialist survey work in liaison with NRW and WVNL.

Citizen science engagement

Coordinate with our citizen science and engagement team to:

• Launch and run Big Ranunculus Watch in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
• Design and deliver training for volunteers to monitor long-term sites in more detail.
• Help build public awareness of water crowfoot and its ecological significance in the Wye and Usk.

Partnership and research liaison

In tandem with the FORW Programme Manager and Communication Lead:

• Work closely with partners including NRW, scientific researchers and NGOs.
• Liaise with regulatory authorities and ensure legal permissions for all project activities are in place.
• Ensure alignment with related catchment initiatives and national citizen science programmes.

Reporting and project delivery

• Track and manage project progress and budget.
• Establish and monitor key performance metrics.
• Prepare interim outputs, a final evaluation report, and a strategic project report with recommendations for long-term monitoring and conservation of water crowfoot.

Skills and experience

• Educated to degree level in freshwater ecology, botany, or a related field.
• Proven experience delivering ecological field-based research projects.
• Strong organisational and project management skills, including budgeting.
• Experience with GIS and mapping tools (e.g. QGIS, ArcGIS and accessible tools like Google Maps and Google Earth) to support site selection, baseline mapping, and presentation of survey data.
• Familiarity with data visualisation tools (ideally Tableau) to support accessible, public-facing presentation of findings.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders including funders, regulators and researchers.
• Experience commissioning technical specialists or consultants (e.g. drone operators, lab analysis).
• Comfortable managing a project budget and workplan independently.
• Confident in designing, managing and reporting on multi-strand projects.
• Ability to analyse, synthesise and communicate scientific data effectively.

Desirable

• Welsh language skills and knowledge of rural Welsh landscapes.
• Residence in or near the Wye/Usk catchment area.

Personal attributes

• Passionate about river ecology and environmental restoration.
• Highly organised, self-motivated, and able to work independently.
• Comfortable engaging with a wide range of people from scientists to volunteers.
• Flexible and adaptive in response to emerging opportunities or challenges.
• Proactive and confident in shaping and driving forward the project without close supervision.

The main aims of this 3-year project are to:

• Collate and supplement existing records of the water crowfoot plant assemblage, contributing to the “Big Ranunculus Watch” and other programmes run by FORW and partners.
• Undertake surveys at key sites, through both physical sampling and remote sensing by drones.
• Establish a publicly available baseline of images and botanical records, showing the past and existing distribution of water crowfoot against which future changes can be mapped.
• Establish a series of long term monitoring sites, covering physico-chemical characteristics as well as plant cover, and train a network of Citizen Science volunteers to monitor them.
• Attempt to link changes in distribution to wider impacts such as pollution, temperature or high flows. This will help improve our understanding of factors which may have led to recent declines, and determine its possible future recovery.

Engage with existing CS volunteers, the general public and interested groups to promote awareness of and interest in the wildlife of these two rivers.

This is a flexible contract role. The successful candidate will be expected to provide their own equipment (laptop, phone and vehicle) and to work flexibly, including occasional evenings or weekends, to respond to fieldwork schedules, public engagement events and seasonal activity across the catchment. This project is funded by the Nature Networks Programme. It is being delivered by the Heritage Fund, on behalf of the Welsh Government.

Please note – it is essential you are based in the Wye Catchment and that you include a covering letter with your application.

Type: 1-Year contract (2 days per week – flexible working hours – extendable to 3 years)

Rate: £200 per day (contract rate)

Location: Flexible working, based within / across the Wye & Usk catchment