Organization Mission

Morobe Development Foundation Inc. is a leading Internationally recognised NGO based in Lae Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. It has the vision to help young people reach their full potential by utilizing their hidden talents in community development initiatives so they can realize their potential and become role model in the community.

MDF was established to address a broader and more diverse range of objectives and work through the use of dance, music, and drama, MDF’s primary aim is to ensure that women participate equally in decision-making in any project undertaken, including projects related to Ending Violence against Women and promoting Human Rights to support the Government and the Sustainable Development Goals.

MDF, in collaboration with Online Volunteers, engaged through the UNV”s Unified Volunteer Platform (UVP), has also undertaken various scientific research studies related to the environment – forest cover loss, land use land cover change, the influence of various parameters on surface waters, and coastal shoreline turtle habitat loss. These projects included the participation of various experts and researchers from diverse fields across various countries across the globe – ranging from marine biology, biodiversity conservation, PNG community management, remote sensing, and land use policy among various others.

MDF is managed by a management committee, which is made up of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, Secretary, the Treasurer, the Project Coordinator, Community Development Officer, and a male and female member of the foundation, and ensures that women participate equally in decision making.

We at MDF assert that we have the required skill sets, knowledge, established international network, and the necessary foundational work to undertake projects successfully.

Context

Morobe Development Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation based in Papua New Guinea and was established to promote sustainable community development initiatives and thereby address several exigent issues—ranging from environmental conservation to women”s rights—that are hindering the progress of the region.

Mangrove forests play a crucial role globally, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people living along coastlines while contributing significantly to economies worldwide through ecosystem services valued between billions of dollars annually. These services include shoreline stabilisation, providing habitats for diverse benthic macrofauna, and supplying food, honey, and timber. Beyond their economic and social benefits, mangrove forests offer scalable and cost-effective natural climate solutions by sequestering carbon in biomass and soil/sediment. Globally, the potential of mangrove forests to mitigate climate change is significant, with the capacity to offset a substantial percentage of annual fossil fuel emissions through carbon sequestration.

A few of our ongoing projects focus on applications of various remote sensing technologies for monitoring forest biomass, tracking land use and land change patterns, evaluating climate change impacts, and conserving sea turtle habitats. We have previously placed and recruited online volunteers to perform similar tasks, but now we need more in-depth proposal writing to provide us with more reference information.

We are currently looking for online volunteers who are passionate about data science and mangroves/sustainability-related topics and are enthusiastic about enhancing their research writing skills (16-20 hours per week for 10 weeks) to support us in this proposal writing collaboration. The objective of this proposal is to secure funding and support for a project that applies data science to coastal conservation and blue carbon modelling in PNG. By detailing the necessity and benefits of the project, outlining a clear plan, and showcasing the expertise of the team, we aim to inform, mobilise, and empower individuals and organisations to back this important initiative.

The selected online volunteers with a background in data science will support grant writing and research by collaborating on the climate projections of the mangrove response in the next century. For this, R programming skills are needed and additionally contribute to the development of blue carbon models to estimate the amount of carbon sequestered by this ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

Morobe Development Foundation (MDF) Inc. needs to continue to look for Online Volunteers who have expertise in data analysis, R programming knowledge, climate projection, coastal conservation, and carbon emission modelling and a background in the field of data science, preferably also in forestry, mangroves, sustainability, remote sensing, or related areas to support the undergoing project.

The Selected Online Volunteers would be expected to assist the MDF team with:

Online Volunteer 1: Assist in data analysis-related and programming tasks for establishing and analysing coastal conservation and blue carbon modelling.
Online Volunteer 2: Assist in development tools (expected tool: R programming tool-statistics analysis) that allow simulating the amount of carbon mangroves will sequester under different climate change scenarios (e.g., sea level rise).
Online Volunteer 3: Assist in Journal Article Writing Support—draughting preparation and literature review (length: 10-15 pages).
Online Volunteer 4: Assist in Grant Proposal Support—Draughting and Literature Review (Length: 8-10 pages).

The current task involves assisting in writing a proposal on the topic “Data science applications for coastal conservation in the context of mangroves and how much carbon emissions they are sequestering (blue carbon modelling).”

For this project, the objective of the proposal is to secure funding and support for applying data science to coastal conservation, with a focus on mangroves and their role in carbon sequestration (blue carbon modelling) in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Online Volunteers will play an assistance role and collaborate to craft a compelling proposal that outlines the project’s significance, methodology, expected outcomes, and budget. By doing so, the proposal aims to demonstrate the necessity and benefits of the project, ultimately seeking to mobilise and empower stakeholders to support this important initiative. The results of this project will be included in a peer-reviewed journal article, and based on the level of contributions, the online volunteers will be acknowledged (with a certificate) and/or invited to be co-authors.

Required Skills and Experience

Candidates are expected to have:

– Demonstrated writing experience and a master’s degree or equivalent (e.g., bachelor’s degree with 3+ years) in an area related to data science, R programming, data analysis, climate projection, carbon emissions modeling, forestry, mangroves, sustainability, remote sensing, coastal conservation or related fields.

– Good communication and be very attentive, responsive, and proactive, as our projects are very fast-paced.

Candidates are also expected to provide a statement of purpose (~ 200-300 words) highlighting your experience with data analysis, R programming, data science, and writing scientific articles/reports on the aforementioned topics and why you would be a fitting candidate for this role.

You can find some of our recent publications here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=IH-147kAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate