Opportunity to work with WCT’s Resilient Futures team as a Psychologist
About the Role
The Resilient Futures team is the social sciences research and implementation vertical at the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT).
We are looking for someone with a solid grounding in social psychology and who is comfortable with data. The individual must be able to apply their understanding to ensure smooth project implementation and impact evaluation of the on-going Water Heater project, and who will also be a part of future research planned in the landscape.
Key Responsibilities
- Analysis of real time psychological data for policy-driven interventions
- Working with the communities and the Forest Department
- Supporting the implementation team
- Data (both qualitative and quantitative) collection and data analysis
- Research paper writing
Qualification & Experience
- Master’s Degree in Psychology (from a recognised university)
Desired Competencies
Candidates will be selected based on their assignment and interview. They will be required to have knowledge and experience of Quantitative Analysis and Evaluation methods, familiarity with R/Python and good writing skills. Candidates must have the ability to work independently and should be able to take initiative at work.
Location
- This job will be Mumbai-based
- It might involve travel to other field-sites
Remuneration
Competitive salary for this position ranges from INR 50,000 to INR 60,000 per month, commensurate to experience. Additionally, the organisation also offers comprehensive benefits package with respect to insurance and company-issues assets.
Application Requirements
- CV
- Email should be titled ‘Application for Psychologist at WCT’
- Interested individuals should e-mail their applications to prachi@wctindia.org on or before December 5, 2025.
About WCT’s Resilient Futures Department
The Resilient Futures vertical was set up to gain insights on conservation action through understanding of social drivers of behaviours that significantly impact the ecology. The team comprises social scientists from a variety of disciplines and adopts frameworks of economics, psychology, sociology and anthropology to gather data-driven inputs for community-based climate action. These inputs are used to design and implement interventions which are systematically monitored for their efficiency. The aim is to evolve evidence-based policy for ecologically viable development of landscapes through empowerment of the communities. The Resilient Futures team is currently working on the following initiatives:
A) The team has collected data from 8,000 households in the Greater Tadoba Landscape on economic and psychosocial parameters in order to understand the significant drivers of forest degradation. The project is focused on developing data-driven and holistic interventions to arrest forest degradation in the region. The team has effectively used qualitative data to complement its quantitative datasets using qualitative techniques such as Grounded Theory Analysis to ensure that the perception of the communities is central to all the solutions designed for them. As an outcome of this project, the team has initiated a pilot community-based intervention in seven villages around Brahmapuri Forest Division. Introduction of biomass-fired water heater or bumbb has been launched in these villages and 450 units have been distributed to families so far. The project is being adopted by Melghat and Tadoba Tiger Reserves.
B) The team has implemented AI-based solutions for modelling and prediction across several of its initiatives. It is currently partnering with Google Research India under the AI for Social Good programme to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict human-herbivore conflict in Maharashtra.
C) The team works in collaboration with various state Forest Departments to understand the work motivation and wellbeing of the frontline forest staff. Tools of industrial psychology are used for understanding the work-life and culture of the forest staff in order to inform policy for improving the work and living conditions of the forest guards. A total of 447 guards from 11 tiger reserves across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have been surveyed by the members of the Resilient Futures team. These surveys have been conducted for profiling the guards on work motivation parameters, which has resulted in the launch of a training programme for range forest officers (RFOs). Thirty-six RFOs from Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve and Melghat Tiger Reserve have been trained in Human Resource Management as part of the programme.
D) Currently the team has finished collecting the largest household dataset for communities around ecosystems. With more than 25,000 households surveyed across India’s eight bio-geographic zones, it will help understand the most under-represented communities.