EJR-Quartz

Living Planet Matters: Taking the pulse of our Living Planet

Georgie Collins | 31 May 2019

ESA’s Living Planet Symposium, the largest Earth observation conference in the world, took place in Milan this May. Held every three years, Living Planet draws thousands of scientists and data users from around the world to discuss their latest findings on how satellites are taking the pulse of our planet.

This year, our EJR-Quartz editors for ESA were out in force, just part of the huge team who made the Symposium possible.

The ESA Web TV production team live-streamed the opening event, Kelsea Brennan-Wessels interviewed scientists, professors, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes Josef Aschbacher and other members of the EO community. The wrap-up video with highlights of the week was Romina Persi’s debut in front of the ESA Web TV cameras.

With over 4000 scientific papers to sift through, EO editors Honora Rider and Romina were kept busy producing daily web reports on the most newsworthy results from LPS19. These were shared of course on ESA’s social media channels, by EO social media editor, Andrada Coos.

Living Planet also offered opportunities for the next generation of scientists to discover the exciting science and technology behind Earth Observation. At the school labs, organised by Karina de Castris and the ESRIN science communicators, elementary and middle-school students had hands-on experience with Earth sciences and some of the technologies used to measure environmental variables.

For high-school students, ESA Education and ASI also invited the four winning teams of the LPS 2019 Climate Detectives competition to receive their awards, accompanied by our didactics expert Fátima Pinto. This project challenged pupils from all ESA Member States to team up and make a difference in understanding and protecting the Earth’s climate. The LPS 2019 School Award was a unique opportunity for the Climate Detectives teams to present their projects to a professional audience at the Symposium.

Here’s a few of the week’s highlights to enjoy!

Media Insight Analyst to work at ESA in the Netherlands

Georgie Collins | 16 April 2019

Objective

Love communication? Love data? We’re on the hunt for an experienced #MediaAnalyst to work with the communications team at the European Space Agency! Deadline extended to 14 June!

The Media Insight Analyst will work within ESA’s News and Content Office at ESA/ESTEC in the Netherlands, as part of the EJR-Quartz service team for ESA.

The Media Insight Analyst will support ESA’s Communications department in fine-tuning its new communications strategy. analysing data on the ESA communication channels to provide insight on its content and news.

He/She will analyse data to identify patterns and trends, to help ESA in making strategic decisions on concerning its content and news strategy.

To achieve this the Media Insight Analysist will:

Use digital analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Cision and Falcon.io to measure ESA impact and refine its communications strategy
Provide clear and accurate reports to monitor all elements of communication performance
Support the Communications Department in defining and monitoring KPIs
Deliver regular communication KPI reports to the ESA Editorial Board including implications and recommendations for optimisation
Analyse digital data from a number of sources to ensure that performance data is available
Contribute to a digital analytics strategy, developing and communicating best practices for digital metrics
Develop an SEO strategy to grow search traffic in ESA Member States
Communicate analysis to stakeholders within the communications teams in a clear and transparent manner, and take part in discussions about implications
Evaluate and report on the impact of changes/new initiatives across digital platforms

Qualifications and skills:

The right candidate will have:

Bachelor’s degree with strong quantitative focus such as Economics, Statistics, Social Sciences, or Business/Market Research
5+ years of work experience in an analytical role (including data analysis, market research) within a media/communications environment
Excellent analytics skills and an investigative mindset
Experience in analytics with a communications/media environment
Ability to interpret complex datasets, make recommendations for improvement and monitor the impact of changes
Ability to present data in a way that is simple to interpret for a non-technical audience
Strong team orientation with a willingness and preparedness to share and seek information, knowledge, help and support others in the team
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and at least one other European language, both written and verbal with particular skill in interpreting to non-technical audiences
Excellent organisational and time management skills

Contractual matters

Our new team member will be employed directly by EJR-Quartz BV, under contract to ESA. Dutch residence and work permit is obligatory. This is a one year contract, with possibility of renewal. The start date is end of June 2019.

Closing date extended: 14 June 2019
Find out more about our company and meet the team at: www.ejr-quartz.com
If you think this post is for you, tell us why you’d like to work with us. Please send your cover letter, CV and references to: vacancy@ejr-quartz.com

EJR-Quartz for the German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Georgie Collins | 5 March 2019

We are pleased to announce that we have won a three-year contract with the Public Affairs and Communications Department of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), for Crossmedia English-language editorial support.

EJR-Quartz has been working to provide English-language support to DLR’s Public Affairs and Communications Department since 2005. Our work with DLR includes the production and publication of web articles, press releases and the DLR Magazine, maintenance of the English-language web portal, administration of their English language official and mission-related social media platforms, such as @DLR_en, @Philae2014 and @MASCOT2018, live event coverage and communications consultancy services.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is the national aeronautics and space research centre of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its extensive research and development work in aeronautics, space, energy, transport, digitalisation and security is integrated into national and international cooperative ventures. In addition to its own research, as Germany’s space agency, DLR has been given responsibility by the federal government for the planning and implementation of the German space programme. DLR is also the umbrella organisation for one of Germany’s largest project management agencies.

EJR-Quartz Content Lab

Georgie Collins | 31 January 2019

The Content Lab during our EJR-Quartz workshop in Athens, October 2017 – Content Matters!

EJR-Quartz at world’s largest climate change event

Georgie Collins | 11 January 2019

In December 2018, thousands of world leaders, scientists, activists, representatives of the private sector, as well as local community members gathered in Katowice, Poland, to come up with a plan to fight climate change and its effects. EJR-Quartz’s Nicole Shearer and Mario Morellon had the opportunity to join them on behalf of the European Union’s Copernicus programme.

Helen Czerski (science presenter and writer, Chair of this session), Jean-Noël Thépaut (Head of the Copernicus Climate Change Service), Florence Rabier (Director-General of ECMWF) and Hugo
Zunker (European Commission Policy Officer)

The annual United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) is the world’s largest climate change conference. In 1992 the United Nations organised an Earth Summit, through which the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted – a treaty in which nations agree to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Since the treaty came into force in 1994, an annual COP has been organised to discuss the status of the climate and plan how to move forward. Last year’s was the 24^th COP, or COP24.

One of the most important tasks of COP24 was to work out a set of guidelines to ensure the full implementation of the Paris agreement, which was adopted three years ago at COP21. The agreement aims to “keep global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C”.

Nicole and Mario attended COP24 for the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Union. ECMWF implements two of the EU’s Copernicus programme services – the Climate Change Service and the Atmosphere Monitoring Service. EJR-Quartz is responsible for raising awareness of these two services via a variety of communication and outreach activities, including writing web articles, running social media channels and helping with events.

Elżbieta Bieńkowska (European Commissioner), Helen Czerski (science presenter and writer who chaired the session), Florence Rabier (Director-General of ECMWF), Jean-Noël Thépaut (Head of the Copernicus Climate Change Service), Maxx Dilley (World Meteorological Organization), Florin Vladu (UNFCCC), Alberto Troccoli
(World Energy & Meteorology Council), Christiana Photiadou (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute).

On the second Monday of COP24, a joint event between ECMWF and the European Commission presented the global reach of the Copernicus Climate Change Service and provided insight into how data produced by the Service are used to benefit people from around the world. EJR-Quartz’s Linda Carrette played a vital role in organising the event, creating the programme as well as communicating with all speakers and organising eye-catching visuals.

Travelling early in the morning from Krakow, Nicole and Mario negotiated the strict security and registration process before setting up the room where the event was to take place. Together, they arranged the technical equipment – including cameras and microphones, prepared the presenters, and raised excitement for the event via social media. Mario took care of live-streaming the event, which can still be watched here. Nicole live-tweeted throughout, took photos and kept Instagram updated.

After the event, the two had the opportunity to explore COP24 – with 30,000 people taking part in the conference, the venue was almost overwhelmingly huge! Extremely impressed by the exhibits on display from different countries, they were delighted to be surrounded by so many people dedicated to tackling climate change.

Editor at ESA ECSAT, UK

Erica Rolfe | 2 January 2019

**Position now closed**

Are you able to present technical topics in a simple and catchy style? EJR-Quartz has an opening for a mother-tongue English editor/communications specialist. The position is full-time for EJR-Quartz under contract to the European Space Agency (ESA), based on site at European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) on the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire.

Working within the News and Content Office of the ESA Communication Department, in close collaboration with the Telecom and Integrated Applications (TIA) Directorate, the Telecom Editor will write and edit content on space topics mainly related to telecommunications. Tasks include:

Writing, editing and publishing content on the activities of the TIA directorate, in mother-tongue English
Liaising with internal and external partners for the content elaboration, validation and approval, in coordination with the TIA communications officer
Ensuring the publication of material on telecom topics, using the inhouse Content Management System
Writing and defining material for social media around project milestones or events.
Assisting with TIA-related events (round tables, launch events, VIP tours etc.) including budget supervision, liaison with suppliers, participants and external partners.
Overseeing audiovisual productions and researching/commissioning graphical material
Support to the ECSAT communications officer for ECSAT outreach with relevance to TIA.

The right candidate will have:

Mother-tongue English, with a minimum of 3 years’ writing/editing experience
An Honours degree in communications/journalism or engineering
Demonstrable skill in presenting technical subjects in a style accessible for general public
Familiarity and interest in space topics
Experience in scripting and producing video

Contractual matters

This is a six-month contract with EJR-Quartz, with possibility of renewal. The start date is 4 February 2019.

Closing date: 15 January 2019

Find out more about our company and meet the team at: www.ejr-quartz.com

If you think this is for you, tell us why you’d like to work with us. Please send your cover letter, CV and references to: vacancy@ejr-quartz.com

Print editor at ESA in Italy

Erica Rolfe | 2 January 2019

**Position now closed**

New Year, new start? Join our editorial team for ESA/ESRIN in Italy. We have an opening for a mother-tongue English editor experienced in writing for print and able to present scientific and technical topics in a style accessible for general public. The position is full-time for EJR-Quartz under contract to the European Space Agency, onsite at ESA ESRIN in Frascati, Italy, working within ESA’s Print Media and Merchandising Unit.

Tasks

ESA’s Print Media and Merchandising Unit is responsible for a catalogue of print and non-digital media to reach the general public. Reporting to the Head of the Print Media and Merchandising Unit, the Print Editor is responsible for writing and editorial all material for the products produced by the Unit, in mother-tongue English and in a style accessible to a general public audience. Tasks include:

Writing and editing of all material required for ESA’s printed productions, in mother-tongue English
Supporting the Head of the Print Unit in developing the catalogue of print and non-digital media to be produced by ESA
Overseeing creation and production of print publications from conception to distribution: managing the schedule and approvals, interfacing with authors and customers, editing/rewriting content, working closely with designers
Researching images and writing accurate captions for all printed products
Ensuring that all material is in accordance with ESA editorial house style and approved according to agreed processes

Requirements

We are looking for a mother-tongue English editor, with a minimum of 3 years’ demonstrable experience in writing and editing for print. Candidates must have experience in presenting scientific and technical subjects in a style accessible for the general public. Requirements include:

Mother-tongue English, with a minimum of 3 years’ writing/editing experience
Excellent writing, editing and proof-reading skills
Honours degree in journalism/communications, science or engineering
Demonstrable skill in presenting scientific and technical subjects in a style accessible for general public
Experience in following print products throughout the entire publishing cycle
Experience with InDesign and similar tools
Italian residence and work permit

Contractual matters

Our new team member will be employed directly by EJR-Quartz srl, under contract to ESA. An Italian residence and work permit is obligatory. This is a six-month contract, with possibility of renewal. The start date is 4 February 2019.

Closing date: 15 January 2019

Find out more about our company and meet the team at: www.ejr-quartz.com

If you think this is for you, tell us why you’d like to work with us. Please send your cover letter, CV and references to: vacancy@ejr-quartz.com

Join our team in Italy

Erica Rolfe | 5 December 2018

This post is now closed. Are you able to present scientific and technical topics in a simple and catchy style? EJR-Quartz has an opening for a mother-tongue English journalist/editor. The position is full-time for EJR-Quartz under contract to the European Space Agency (ESA), based on site at ESA’s Earth Observation Centre in Frascati, Italy.

Working within the News and Content Office of the Communication Department, the Applications Editor will write and edit content on space topics mainly related to Earth Observation, Navigation and Telecommunications for all channels – digital and traditional.

The right candidate will have:

Mother-tongue English, with a minimum of 3 years’ writing/editing experience
An Honours degree in science, engineering or communications/journalism
Demonstrable skill in presenting scientific and technical subjects in a style accessible for general public
Familiarity and interest in space and environment topics
Experience in scripting and producing video, including interview and presenting

Contractual matters

Closing date: 18 December 2018

Find out more about our company and meet the team at: www.ejr-quartz.com

If you think this is for you, tell us why you’d like to work with us. Please send your cover letter, CV and references to: vacancy@ejr-quartz.com

Helping the ECMWF Copernicus Services to spread the word

Georgie Collins | 18 September 2018

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a new contract with the ECMWF Copernicus Services to provide a major part of their outreach activities. Having already intensively worked with the team over in Reading, UK, in the past two years to help them plan and execute their online communication activities, our new wider responsibilities include designing promotional materials, developing animations and videos and expanding their social media presence.

Copernicus is the European Union’s flagship Earth observation programme that provides information on the state of our planet bundled into specific services. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) implements two of those services, the Climate Change Service (C3S) and the Climate Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). ECMWF also provides support to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS).

The ECMWF Copernicus Services thus play a pivotal role in disseminating information about the climate and atmosphere to scientists, stakeholders, policy makers and the general public alike and we are very proud to be able to help them achieve this. Together with our partner, the Science Office, we will be providing CAMS and C3S with our full range of communication services.

For this contract we will be coordinating with HBI Helga Bailey, who will be in charge of the press activities, and Adria Congrex/oiko who will take care of the ECMWF Copernicus presence at events. Together we will make sure that the message about climate and atmospheric changes gets out there.

This position has now been filled.

A reindeer as my neighbour

Fatima de Pinto | 27 August 2018

When I was invited to participate in a training for teachers and educators about climate in Longyearbyen my first thought was “where am I going?”. I soon discovered that Longyearbyen is a small coal-mining town in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, the realm of polar bears, reindeers and arctic foxes. I was going to the Arctic!

Svalbard is the perfect place to learn about climate and to investigate in situ indicators of climate change. During the five days of the course we investigated the depth of permafrost, sedimentation processes, landscape evolution and glacier size. The effects of climate change in Svalbard are already visible and dangerous. Due to abnormal rainfall (one month’s rainfall fell on just one day, and this is becoming more frequent) one of our outside trips to the Longyearbreen glacier had to be cancelled for safety reasons. However, we managed to map the front end of the glacier with the help of satellite data. Satellites are extremely useful for monitoring remote areas, like the Arctic, where bad weather and long periods of darkness make it difficult to do systematic in-situ monitoring.

Understanding climate in Svalbard, Nordic ESERO course on climate change

Glacier dynamics and climate change are a very complex combination of processes. Which of these are due to natural phenomena and which due to global warming? I didn’t get a final answer but I brought a message home: we urgently need to communicate and teach accurately about climate to make the future generations aware of the challenges of our changing climate.

The field trip to Longyearbyen was part of the course “Climate research in the polar landscape” held by the Nordic European Space Education Research Office (Nordic ESERO) in cooperation with the Nord University, thanks to Nordic ESERO

for inviting me and to EJR-Quartz for covering my participation.

Opening for a senior science editor/communicator

Erica Rolfe | 14 August 2018

NOW CLOSED. EJR-Quartz has an opening for a senior science editor/communicator with mother-tongue English, able to present scientific and technical topics in a style accessible for the general public. The position is full-time for EJR-Quartz under contract to the European Space Agency, based on site at ESA’s ESTEC, in the Netherlands.

The successful candidate will have:

Mother-tongue English
An Honours degree in science, space science, earth sciences or communications
Minimum of 5 years’ experience in writing and editing on science or space topics
Demonstrable experience in presenting scientific and technical subjects in a style accessible for general public

Tasks include:

Commission, edit and write articles and updates for the ESA Portal and other channels
Manage an editorial calendar, contributing to the consolidated publishing agenda
Participate in the Editorial Board to review news requests and coordinate the publication agenda
Contribute to the drafting and implementing of communication plans
Support the organisation of media and outreach events
Support for launch and mission events, including live coverage
Conception and implementation of social media campaigns
Conception of storyboards for videos, animations and social media assets

Contractual matters

The successful candidate will be employed directly by EJR-Quartz BV, under contract to ESA and must have residence and work permit for the Netherlands. This is a one-year contract, with possibility of renewal. The start date is 1 November.

Closing date: 5 September 2018

Learn more about our company and meet the team at: www.ejr-quartz.com

If you think this is for you, tell us why you’d like to join our team. Please send your cover letter, CV and references to: vacancy@ejr-quartz.com