Background: The DYNECOSS-Gabon project (Dynamiques Écologiques et Socio-Spatiales de la Chasse pour une Gestion Durable de la Faune au Gabon / Ecological and Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Hunting for Sustainable Wildlife Management in Gabon), led by CIRAD as part of the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) programme and funded by the François Sommer Fundation, aims to analyse the social and ecological factors influencing the use of space by hunters in rural communities in the Mulundu department of Gabon. Drawing on unique databases, the project aims to provide practical recommendations for sustainable wildlife management.

You will be at the heart of this multidisciplinary project that aims to decipher the complex dynamics linking human behaviour and the harvesting of wildlife resources. To this end, you will have access to the hunting database, which includes hunting yields and GPS tracks, the camera trapping database for three campaigns and the socio-economic studies database.

Your tasks will involve:
1. Analysing the use of space by hunters:
o Process and analyse GPS records of hunting routes to characterise spatial patterns and land-use strategies
o Use photographic inventory data to understand the spatial distribution of the main mammals hunted.
o Design and supervise the collection of socio-ethnographic data on hunters (demographic, economic, lineage and family structure data)
o Analyse the determinants of land use to assess whether the spatial layout of hunting territories (communal and individual) relates to social and/or ecological factors

2. Understanding hunters’ travel strategies:
o Map the traditional infrastructure (tracks and camps) used by hunters on the basis of GPS routes

o Analyse the determinants of hunting routes and prepare a typology of hunter profiles

3. Interpret the results for stakeholders:
o Write a scientific article to disseminate the results to the international community and add to the state of knowledge regarding the sustainable management of wildlife resources
o Co-author an opinion piece and transform it into a policy brief for the authorities with the aim of improving the legal framework and community hunting management practices
o Transform your analyses into practical tools for local communities: visual renderings (maps, simplified graphs) and participatory workshops to adjust the recommendations to suit the realities on the ground

Through this project, you will be helping to promote the sustainable and inclusive management of communal hunting grounds in Central Africa in a way that respects both the needs of rural communities and the conservation of biodiversity. You will also help to demonstrate the importance of including community governance in national conservation strategies.

You have a PhD obtained within the last three years in a field such as spatial ecology, movement ecology or human ecology, environmental geography or socio-ecological sciences. You would like to contribute your skills to an innovative applied study promoting the sustainable management of wildlife resources and rural communities.

Your knowledge:
- You have expertise in spatial ecology or travel analysis (trajectory modelling, resource selection).
- You enjoy interdisciplinary approaches that enable the integration of ecological, ethnoecological and socio-economic data into multi-scalar analyses to decipher complex phenomena.
- You have skills in geomatics or in using GPS data or data from wildlife inventories (e.g. photographic trapping).
- Oral and written fluency in French and English is essential for working in an international scientific environment and interacting with local stakeholders.
- Experience of issues relating to customary rights, social practices and local strategies for managing hunting territories in a rural context would be an advantage.

Your skills:
- you are able to construct interdisciplinary conceptual frameworks to support your narratives and analytical frameworks.
- You have an excellent command of spatial analysis tools (GIS, R statistical tools, QGIS, ArcGIS) and modelling methods, such as resource selection functions (RSF) or occupancy models.
- You know how to process and analyse multi-scalar data (individual routes, species distribution) to produce maps and specific indicators.
- You are able to cross-reference ecological, ethnoecological and socio-economic data to identify pertinent trends and interpretations.
- You have proven writing skills in terms of producing scientific articles, technical documents and operational summaries for decision-makers.
- Experience of collecting socio-ethnographic data is an advantage.
- Experience in generating products to popularise scientific results for local communities and the general public would be an advantage.
- Experience in a tropical area (ideally Central Africa) and in a multi-cultural environment would be an advantage.

Your interpersonal skills:
- You are scientifically rigorous and have an analytical mind for dealing with complex data.
- You are able to organise your work independently and enjoy working as part of a team on multidisciplinary and international projects.
- Ability to listen and adapt.
- Strong communication skills with a variety of audiences.