We are a private Foundation that is operating a biological field station in Chilean Patagonia.
Our Scientific Field Station was inaugurated in 2001 and is situated 100 km south of Puerto Montt, in the fjord Comau; it is the only biological station in a Chilean fjord. The surroundings are characterized by steep mountains and volcanoes. Almost 6,000 mm annual precipitation gives rise to extremely lush vegetation characterized by extra-tropical rain forests.
The small village Huinay with its approx. 25 inhabitants can only be accessed by a 1 hour boat-trip (speed boat) from Hornopiren. Most infrastructure – except some small shops and a rural hospital in Hornopiren – is located in Puerto Montt, a 3 to 4 h drive or bus trip from Hornopiren.
Through work on inventories and other projects involving benthic fauna of the Chilean fjords the Station has collected thousands of specimens from all over the fjord region which have been photographed in their habitat.
The station is working in cooperation with more than 40 renowned taxonomic specialists from 14 countries and 25 institutions to identify these specimens and complete our taxonomic field guide for the region. Although the first edition of the book has utilized this data and will soon be published, the back stock of important distribution and photo data at the Station is still grand.
Before future editions of this field guide and full utilization of this data can be realized a more comprehensive data base and accessible species information center must be completed. This will focus mostly on species photo identification, distribution, habitat, depth range and potentially abundance information. The ultimate goal is to enhance and complete the list of species occurring in the Chilean fjords and to contribute to global databases such as OBIS. This is an important base line research!
We are looking for driven individuals willing to volunteer for a minimum duration of 6 full weeks (preferably longer). The project will be split into 5 phases: Data compilation from the existing field guide; contacting authors for missing species ID’s then updating the database; identifying species and recording specific related data from existing photos of non sampled species; identifying species and recording specific related data from photo transects; and using all compiled info to create a more final list of species occurring in the Chilean fjords (formatted for OBIS compatibility).
We can offer free food and lodging in the beautiful setting of Huinay a chance for in depth learning about taxonomy and the Chilean marine benthic fauna and some fun being involved with an important global project at an international Marine Science Centre!
Contact: Please send your cover letter and filled out volunteer forms (see website ) to…
[pay]
Huinay Scientific Field Station
huinayresearch@gmail.com
www.huinay.cl
[/pay]
