Curatorial assistant in the Department of Earth Sciences of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) seeks a curatorial assistant in the Department of Earth Sciences to organize its extensive collection of North American vertebrate fossils as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project to rehouse and digitize collections. Successful candidates will have experience in vertebrate fossil research and identification, strong organizational skills, and a willingness to regularly engage the general public in collections-based outreach.

DMNS is an exciting place to work, with a large, highly-trained Earth Sciences staff and volunteer corps. The museum has outstanding conservation, volunteer management, and collections staff along with a new, state-of-the-art collections facility with excess storage. The vertebrate paleontology collections are sizeable and are growing; their composition and history are described at http://www.dmns.org/science/collections/. The Department of Earth Sciences also has four curators, a fully staffed preparation laboratory that operates 364 days per year, a full-time collections manager, and over 300 volunteers who engage in science, collections, and outreach.

The Curatorial Assistant will be responsible for organizing, rehousing, and digitizing the non-federal vertebrate paleontology collections at DMNS, consisting of fossils from across the American west. Independent research skills and knowledge of Tertiary vertebrates, especially Pleistocene mammals, is desired. The successful candidate will also have strong interpersonal and management skills to oversee a large, collections-based volunteer group for the duration of the project. Previous experience with museum databases, especially KeMU and Argus, are desired. Day-to-day tasks will include specimen identification, labeling, photography, and rehousing; computer-based databasing and online data management; and volunteer training and management.

A MS is required at the start of the position and previous collections and/or research experience is strongly recommended. The position is for a two-year term beginning January 15, 2015.  

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