Bryophyte Trainee

Bryophyte Trainee, Taxonomy and Macroecology Team, Science Division

Fixed term, full-time (18 months) or 4 days per week (22 months), based in Edinburgh with frequent travel within Scotland

Salary £25,424 (pay award pending) per annum pro rata for part-time, plus civil service pension, generous holiday entitlement and other benefits

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is one of the top botanic gardens in the world. Founded in 1670, RBGE is home to one of the world’s best living collections of plans (13,500 species), a herbarium of three million preserved specimens and one of the UK’s most comprehensive libraries.

We are offering a rare opportunity for a highly motivated individual to gain extensive practical skills in bryophyte identification, field ecology, recording and surveying, backed up with a sound knowledge of bryophyte biology and basic herbarium practices. The bryophytes are the mosses, liverworts and hornworts, which together form a key component of Scotland’s botanical diversity. This traineeship aims to facilitate the development of a career as a specialist bryophyte surveyor or freelance ecologist, and is an 18 month full-time position based in Edinburgh involving regular travel for fieldwork within Scotland (with an option to work part-time for 4 days per week for 22 months instead).

You will be self-motivated and actively seek out learning opportunities, comprehensively supported by staff and associates at RBGE. Formal training will be intermittent and for much of the time you will be working on your own (with access to the extensive RBGE facilities and in-house expertise). A key part of the work will be a project placement elsewhere in Scotland during which you will pursue a bryophyte surveying or research objective, submitting a written report as a formal deliverable of the traineeship. There is flexibility around the location and nature of the placement, dependent on your personal interests and the opportunities available with partner institutions.

You should have a strong interest in bryophytes and an enthusiasm to learn, backed up with an eye for detail, an aptitude for pattern recognition and an ability to manipulate fine structures using microscopy. You will be independent and capable of undertaking moderately strenuous fieldwork in remote, sometimes mountainous terrain. Although you are not expected to have significant expertise in bryology at the outset, you should have some basic knowledge, while wider experience and/or formal qualifications in natural history, nature conservation or ecology are highly desirable.

Closing date: 12 midday BST, Friday 6 June 2025

Interview date: w/c 16 June 2025

If you haven’t heard from us within 2 weeks of the closing date, please assume your application hasn’t been successful on this occasion. No recruitment agencies please.