Location:	Vancouver (offices in Yaletown; with possible travel to partner communities in Coastal BC)
Term:	Summer 2008
Wage Rate:	$15-17 per hour
Deadline:	April 10, 4pm

 

 

 

Background

Ecotrust Canada is a private, non-profit organization working to build a conservation economy in the coastal temperate rainforest region of British Columbia. A conservation economy sustains itself on “principled income” earned from activities and practices that restore rather than deplete natural capital. Through our Information Services and Economic Development programs, we offer tools and resources to coastal communities to facilitate positive change at the intersection of ecosystem conservation, economic opportunity and community vitality.

The GIS Technician will be part of a team of GIS professionals, and will be supervised by our Cartographer/GIS trainer with professional exposure and learning through interaction with the other GIS staff including the program manager and GIS Analyst. Please note: this position is dependent upon funding.

Responsibilities

• Supporting Ecotrust Canada’s Information Services and Planning program activities and our First Nations partner communities on GIS-based projects;
• Assisting with content management of the Ecotrust Canada-run Aboriginal Mapping Network website;
• Help to inventory existing data resources and identify data needs in cooperation with partner organizations, industry, and government agencies;
• Create GIS-based cartographic maps and images;
• Support assessment of database designs to collect, manage and query First Nation’s referrals;
• Make existing forestry, fisheries, demographic and cultural hardcopy data available to GIS through digitizing, data conversion, and through acquiring data from existing sources;
• Data conversion and acquisition from existing sources; and
• General GIS support for the IS&P program staff.

Opportunities for Skill Development

• Manipulation and querying of spatial data and attributes;
• Data manipulation and analytical skills manipulating data using GIS;
• Application of academic GIS skills in an interesting, fast-paced professional work environment;
• Exposure to the use of GIS in a non-profit organization;
• Specific approaches to data access/collection, information management;
• Strategic thinking and task time management; and
• Learning about working with First Nations and other BC communities. 

Qualifications

• Experience with ArcGIS 9.x desktop, including Arc Editor and Spatial Analyst;
• Experience working with First Nations communities;
• An understanding of First Nations issues in BC is preferred, especially resource access, social justice, and recent legal developments;
• Experience with digitizing, including hardware setup, map registration, database design, digitizing, and import to GIS;
• Ability to interpret physical and cultural geography;
• Knowledge of provincial resource data sets in BC; and
• Knowledge of resource management issues in BC, especially forestry and fisheries.

Special Requirements:

• Must be authorized to work in Canada; and
  
• Intending to return to an academic term.
  

Contact Information

Eliana Macdonald
Phone: (604) 682-4141x240
Fax: (604) 682-1944
elianam@ecotrustcan.org