POSITION OVERVIEW

As ELTI celebrates its 20th year, we are eager to better understand our impact and support our capacity development teams in achieving effective results. As such, we have been updating our monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) programming, including developing an updated MEL framework, identifying key learning questions and opportunities, and revising MEL protocols. As part of this initiative, ELTI is interested in understanding whether there have been any changes in land use and land cover in the areas where ELTI’s past participants work. With this research, we also aim to develop baselines and monitoring protocols for biophysical indicators, such as forest cover and approximate carbon sequestration rates, aligned with ELTI’s MEL framework.

We are looking for a MEL associate to work with the ELTI team to conduct a temporal land-use and carbon analysis in a pilot research area (likely in Panama) and to develop a monitoring protocol for future analyses.

The MEL associate will have the opportunity to interact with a global network of environmental professionals and gain skills in remote sensing and carbon monitoring. Candidates must demonstrate professionalism, adaptability, and enthusiasm to work on environmental causes and capacity development in the tropics. 

 

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Coordinate with ELTI staff and affiliates to develop and apply appropriate research methods to a pilot study, including the following tasks:

o Develop a land use/land cover and carbon monitoring methodology based on peer-reviewed best practices that is applicable to the pilot study

o Collect and pre-process all required satellite images and other data files

• Lead the data analysis and communications, including the following tasks:

o Summarize key findings and develop clear, effective data visualizations

o Develop one communications piece (blog post, social media post, newsletter story, etc.) summarizing key findings

• Develop a clear monitoring protocol for land use/land cover and carbon analysis that can be replicated across different landscapes and at different points in time, aligned with ELTI’s MEL Framework

• Manage the research process by scheduling and facilitating regular meetings and coordinating communications with external partners

• Other tasks related to remote sensing research, as needed