The Animal Welfare Program has received funding through UBC’s Work Learn Program to hire current UBC undergraduate students in a number of different positions for May 2023 to August 2024! These are part-time positions (maximum of 300 hours). To see if you are eligible for the program, visit the Work Learn website. The two types of positions available are Animal Welfare Program Support Assistant and Humanities Research Assistant – Gene-Editing in Animals. Learn more here.
For international students, there are also similar positions available, but note that these are full-time and provided by the Work Learn International Undergraduate Research Awards. These positions are AWP Data Visualization for Dairy Cattle Welfare, Companion Animal Research Lab Assistant, and AWP History and Communications Student Researcher. Learn more here.
In order to apply, eligible students must log into Careers Online. Find the positions describe below on Careers Online and follow the directions to apply. If you have questions, you can reach out to us at lesley.dampier@ubc.ca.
WL S23 Humanities Research Assistant: Gene editing in animals (2 openings)
Position ID: 963569
The AWP is part of a multi-institution investigation into the “Social Perceptions of the Use of Gene-Editing Technology in Animal Science”. Gene-editing technologies, for example CRISPR-Cas 9, can be used to change the DNA of an animal to produce certain traits. These technologies are proposed as solutions to various environmental, economic and animal welfare concerns. Previous research has shown that societal acceptance of these technologies is complex and nuanced. The overall aim of this project is to explore this complexity through mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) surveys and qualitative focus groups and interviews with members of the public as well as people involved with gene-editing technology (e.g. technology developers, farmers, regulators).
The student will be contributing directly to this research project as part of a multidisciplinary team. Activities will be dependent upon project needs but will include some of the following focused on gene-editing technologies: qualitative (i.e. word-based) data analysis of open-ended survey responses focused on public perceptions of gene-editing in animals, qualitative focus group data analysis with stakeholders involved with gene-editing technologies, mixed method (i.e. qualitative and quantitative, number-based) data analysis, survey design and development and general project support. The student will undertake coordination responsibilities such as scheduling focus groups. The student will also participate in weekly meetings to discuss project ideas and updates. While some of this work can be completed remotely, the student will also be required to be onsite at UBC’s Vancouver campus for specific responsibilities.
The student will be supervised directly by a post-doctoral researcher and will have regular (several times a week) touch points with them. As a collaborative project with multiple team members, the student will receive support from others on the research team as well, based on the details of the specified task. Training will be provided on all research tasks, as well as the general UBC and Faculty trainings required.
The student’s responsibilities range from routine (i.e. data cleaning, survey monitoring) to moderately complex (i.e. research activities, data analysis) as described above. The student will require attention to detail in all tasks related to both the program and research. The student may have to learn new research techniques (i.e. interview and focus group analysis techniques) or software (e.g. NVivo qualitative data analysis software, SPSS statistical analysis software).
WL S23 Animal Welfare Program Support Assistant (2 openings)
Position ID: 963621
The student will have several responsibilities throughout the work term that are grouped into two main categories:
- Program Support: The student will work closely with the Animal Welfare Research Coordinator on projects that support the research group broadly. Examples of such projects include maintaining the Animal Welfare Student blog with current information for students within the program; providing support for communications activities including tracking and cataloguing media mentions and publications; coordinating program meetings and hosting online programs as required; summarizing research presentations and developing annual reports of such events; maintaining the photo library for the group. This work can be completed remotely.
- Research Support: The Animal Welfare Group is made up of over 30 graduate students, post-docs, faculty and staff. Throughout the work term, there will be an opportunity for the student to work very closely with a faculty member or graduate student in direct support of a specific research project. Activities will be dependent upon project needs but will include some of the following: on-line, print material and audio tape research work and coding of videos collected in animal welfare research. Training will be provided. Research activities may be related to companion animals, dairy animals, animals in science or animals in society.