MISSION TO METRICS 
The mission of The Ocean Cleanup is to develop and scale technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. We do this with a dual strategy: cleaning up legacy plastic in the oceans, while intercepting plastic in the world's most polluting rivers. In our river projects, we want to ensure our interception technologies provide maximum benefit for the environment. To achieve this, we perform environmental monitoring to assess and quantify environmental risks and benefits. You will support our mission by collecting critical data on fauna and flora species in an urban river in Thailand and recording their interactions with our cleanup technology.   
“Help us achieve our mission of clean oceans and maximize our benefits to the environment by quantifying and characterizing interactions between wildlife and our river interception systems.” - Dr. Gabriela Alvarez, senior Environmental Manager at The Ocean Cleanup.  

THE ASSIGNMENT
The volunteer will work together with the Environmental and Social Affairs team at The Ocean Cleanup, Southeast Asian researchers, and the local operator of the Interceptor.  
  • Conduct fauna & flora observations around the Interceptor Original deployment location in the Chao Phraya River and document the sightings for scientific research 
  • Identify the flora and fauna species observed in the river.
  • Collect data of incidental catch  (e.g flora and fauna that is unintentionally collected by the Interceptor).
  • Identify the species in our incidental catch  and calculate their proportions versus the total waste collected.
  • Report periodically on the collected and analyzed data.
  • Verify the presence or absence of the fauna species described in a previous Environmental Impact Assessment.
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 
  • Academic background in fields related to biology, environmental sciences, river and/or marine science 
  • Work experience in fauna and flora surveys/inventories and identification

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS 
  • Intrinsic motivation to work on our ambitious and meaningful mission
  • Able to perform well in a fast-paced and highly challenging environment 
  • Meticulous, detail-oriented, structured 
  • Team player, diplomatic  
  • English proficiency (writing and speaking)

ADDITIONAL DETAILS 
Starting date: As soon as possible;  
Location : The role is based in Bangkok, Thailand. We do not offer a relocation package.  
Length of assignment: Flexible. We are looking for someone available for 10-20 days, either in a row or scattered across a few weeks.  

Please note: this an unpaid, volunteer position 

Curious to hear how it is to work at The Ocean Cleanup? Listen to our team members explain their work in our podcast.