Careers at
NATURAL STATE
A career at NATURAL STATE means working hard to catalyse large-scale restoration globally by revolutionising impact monitoring, developing new financial mechanisms and supporting local leaders. Our team of diverse people, ideas and skills help us achieve our impact goals and values.
Who We Are
Our goal at the NATURAL STATE research centre is to develop technology and financial systems that will catalyse large-scale restoration globally as well as help train future leaders for this sector. In the short term we are revolutionising impact monitoring for carbon, biodiversity and human-wellbeing, so that the success or failure of restoration efforts can be clearly defined. We are using this technology to help test a broad range of innovative financing mechanisms that aim to support large-scale restoration, sequester carbon, and provide benefits to local communities.
About Our Team
NATURAL STATE's mission is brought to life every day by our talented team of individuals with unique perspectives and a deep passion for the natural world.
A career with us means working hard together to achieve our goals. From species diversity studies at the NATURAL STATE research centre, located at the base of Mt. Kenya, to analysing data to help trigger investment in the nature economy.
NATURAL STATES staff are lifelong learners, continually developing new approaches and new skills. We fail fast and learn fast with a “lean impact” approach. NATURAL STATE provides skill development opportunities through all career stages, and we do this in an inclusive and respectful environment. We pride ourselves at NATURAL STATE for our passion, dedication, and diverse backgrounds.
OPEN OPPORTUNITIES
REMOTE SENSING SPECIALIST – NATURAL STATE
Line manager: Head Biometrician
Location: This role is a remote role with occasional visits to field sites as per the needs of the program and as directed by the Director of Impact Monitoring.
Type: This is a full-time (40 hrs/week) role, however, exceptional part-time (20-30 hrs/week) applicants will be considered.
Role and responsibilities:
The Remote Sensing Specialist will lead in the development of the technical capabilities for remote sensing within Natural State. The incumbent will work with the technical team and stakeholders to develop a set of remote-sensing based models to monitor changes in Carbon, Biodiversity and Social wellbeing and inform verification data requirements needed to underpin financial mechanisms.
The Remote Sensing Specialist will spearhead Natural State’s efforts to build strategic partnerships to leverage worldclass remote sensing expertise and state-of-the-art remote sensing data and products for integration with Natural State’s Impact Monitoring systems. The incumbent will work closely with the technical, biometrics, carbon and restoration programs teams to build Natural State’s internal remote sensing capabilities, to contract bespoke remote sensing product development to third-party entities, and to deliver usable outputs for restoration partners.
This is a senior technical role, for which the incumbent is expected to be technically proficient and have a track record of developing deployable remote sensing products. The incumbent is expected to be able to be self-motivated and work remotely, while ensuring their work quality maintains the highest standards. Attention to detail regarding data analysis and data management are crucial.
Core functions include:
1) Initiate and coordinate myriad collaborations and consultancies to develop best-in-class methods for monitoring changes in biodiversity, soil, carbon and social well-being via satellite and aerial remote sensing.
The Remote Sensing Specialist will work with the wider IM team and external collaborators to identify potential partners for delivering best-in-class models of standing carbon, soil carbon, ecosystem intactness, vegetation structure, ecosystem services (e.g., energy provisioning) and social wellbeing. The Remote Sensing Specialist will then coordinate projects to deliver functional models that can be integrated into uKweli, Natural State’s data management platform.
2) Maintain a long-term remote sensing strategy.
The Remote Sensing Specialist will continuously conduct horizon scans to identify emergent remote sensing products and technologies that can advance Natural State’s mission to revolutionise impact monitoring for restoration and nature-based solutions. The Remote Sensing Specialist will work closely with the Restoration Programs and Financial Mechanisms teams to identify how remote sensing capabilities best meet market demands for verifiable, scalable, cost-effective impact monitoring. The Remote Sensing Specialist will advise senior management on resource allocation based on short-, mid- and long-term developments in remote sensing capabilities.
3) Streamline and augment Natural State’s internal capacity for managing and analysing remote sensing data.
The Remote Sensing Specialist will work with the wider IM team and external collaborators to automate the application of open access remote sensing products to predictive models of species richness, population abundance and biomass in the uKweli platform. This work will entail programming cloud-based applications to automatically acquire, standardise and extract remote sensing datasets both at specific field sampling locations and across broader landscapes, as well as identifying the best available remote sensing datasets and derived products to incorporate into predictive models. The Remote Sensing Specialist will further build capacity within Natural State by training the Spatial Data Officer, the Head of Project Implementation and the Natural State Field Researchers in remote sensing data management and processing.
4) In addition, the Remote Sensing Specialist will be expected to:
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Ensure that NS remote sensing analyses meet the strictest scientific standards of reproducibility and robustness.
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Maintain meticulous documentation of all remote sensing datasets and data streams.
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Input into proposals, project design documents and standard operating procedures.
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Contribute to reports, publications and white papers.
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Work with the Director of Impact Monitoring to design and implement the Natural State remote sensing strategy and resourcing plan.
Minimum requirements for the position:
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PhD in remote sensing or equivalent and at least 5 years of work experience, or a Master’s Degree in Geospatial Information Science and related fields. and at least 10 years of work experience.
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Demonstrable experience developing remote sensing products.
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Strong geospatial analysis and programming skills, including proficiency in Python and Earth Engine.
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Up to date with current remote sensing products and trends in remote sensing.
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Familiarity and experience with the use of machine learning techniques in developing remote sensing products (e.g., Remote Sensing Foundation Models, Neural Networks, Vision Transformers, Random Forests, Support Vector Machines).
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A good understanding of cloud-based infrastructure and deployment of spatial products into a production environment.
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Strong publication record in peer reviewed journals.
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Strong academic network and proven ability to collaborate.
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Fluency in spoken and written English.
Advantageous
· Ecological background and experience in delivery of models estimating and monitoring ecosystem related variables such as biomass, ecosystem services, or spatially explicit population abundance.
· Experience in managing a team of technical experts and stakeholders.
· Experience in project management.
Data protection:
● The Remote Sensing Specialist will ask the permission of the Director of Impact Monitoring before publishing any of the scientific outputs of this role.
Capability tests
All staff candidates will have their technical competencies tested and reviewed by the Natural State technical team.
Application
This is a one-year position with the potential for annual renewal. This is a remote position and the incumbent will be expected to spend time at Natural State’s research centre in Northern Kenya. The fellow will be compensated commensurate with experience plus benefits that include a pension scheme, medical cover, and a total of 33 days holiday per year (including annual leave and public holidays) and additional office closure days in December. To apply, upload a CV and Cover Letter (pdf format only) describing your aptitude and interest in the position here. Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis beginning January 6th, and the position will remain open until it is filled.
BIOACOUSTICS RESEARCH FELLOW – NATURAL STATE
Line manager: Natural State - Head Biometrician
Location: Natural State Research Center, Meru County, Kenya
Employment Type: One-Year Contract, Renewable
Position overview:
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) and Natural State share the vision of revolutionising the field of biodiversity monitoring. Both organisations aim to transform and scale robust monitoring solutions while decreasing the time and cost needed to collect highly accurate and timely data.
The two organizations are supporting a collaborative research fellowship to advance bioacoustics in ecosystem monitoring. Through this position, both organisations aim to develop, test, and refine field-ready solutions to assessing and measuring changes in biological communities that can be deployed in multiple biomes, starting with savanna grasslands and tropical forests. This role will be primarily based at the Natural State Research Centre in Kenya and managed by Natural State’s Head Biometrician, with technical support from SDZWA’s Head of Conservation Technology and his team.
In consultation with SDZWA’s Head of Conservation Technology, Natural State’s Head Biometrician, and other scientists from the two organisations, the fellow will design and pursue an ambitious agenda to make bioacoustic monitoring more robust, more efficient, and more generalisable.
Principal areas of interest include:
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Machine learning for bioacoustics, applying state-of-the art methods for species identification and soundscape modelling.
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Optimized sampling design to maximize the spatiotemporal efficiency of surveys.
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Improved acoustic data engineering including streamlined model tuning and validation processes and data compression.
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Scalable applications of emergent bioacoustic methods such as abundance estimation and individual recognition.
The fellow will be expected to:
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Lead in the development of these new capabilities.
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Develop and manage partnerships with relevant institutions related to these new technologies including existing collaborations with academic institutions.
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Be able to work independently in a variety of remote environments.
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Be able to work flexibly and collaboratively with multiple teams across different time-zones.
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Provide technical expertise and support grant writing and reporting activities.
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Provide mentorship to build the capacity of NS and SDZWA young scientists.
To be successful, applicants must have the following expertise:
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Demonstrated excellence in applied bioacoustics for scientific research.
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Programming proficiency in Python and common packages including Numpy, Pandas, SciKit-Learn, and machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
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Applications of acoustic classification algorithms such as PERCH and BirdNET or a strong background in neural networks.
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Familiarity with the principles of ecological monitoring and common analytical methods. Applicants with expertise in population or community ecology will be preferred.
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Experience using collaborative software tools with rigorous documentation.
Additionally, applicants must be Kenyan citizens or be eligible to work in Kenya. This is a one-year position with the potential for annual renewal. The fellow will be based at Natural State’s Research Centre in Northern Kenya and will be expected to spend time at San Diego Zoo with potential travel to other field sites. The fellow will be compensated commensurate with experience plus benefits that include a pension scheme, medical cover, and a total of 33 days holiday per year (including annual leave and public holidays) and additional office closure days in December. To apply, upload a CV and Cover Letter (pdf format only) describing your aptitude and interest in the position here. Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis beginning November 18th and the position will remain open until it is filled.