Job Description

Ocean Associates Inc. (OAI) is seeking applicants for a full-time position to collect commercial fishing cost information, provide data services, and assist in creating other deliverables to support the Social Sciences Branch of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, within NOAA Fisheries. OAI is a Virginia corporation established in 2003 that provides consulting and technical services to the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and the private sector. We specialize in scientific program and project management, strategic planning, professional and technical services and stakeholder engagement, supporting government contracts.

Background

The NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center’s Conservation Biology Division conducts science to support the conservation of marine species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. Effective conservation requires understanding how human and natural factors influence the viability of marine species and their ecosystems. Pacific groundfish (rockfishes, flatfishes, and other benthic species) are commercially, recreationally, and culturally valuable species in the NE Pacific Ocean. They have also experienced overfishing in the past, and despite major stock rebuilding successes in the early 2000s and 2010s, there is current concern for how climate change will affect groundfish stocks, along with associated fisheries and fishing communities. Despite decades of intense study, there remain major information gaps to guide management of groundfish fisheries and sustainable management of populations governed by federal law. A major challenge is to understand where Pacific groundfish are in the ocean under varying environmental conditions, how that may change in the future under climate change, how those changes will affect the availability of stocks to fisheries and fishing communities, and what harvest policies are most useful. Illuminating the ocean distribution of groundfish, and the factors determining it, is a critical component of the scientific research conducted by NMFS to fulfill its mandates under the Magnusson Stevens Act. This project is to contribute to the understanding of the ocean distribution of groundfish occurring off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington, and how groundfish distributions influence the California Current ecosystem and US West Coast fisheries and fishing communities. It is divided into three major components: a Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) Module, an Atlantis Ecosystem Model Module, and a Communities Module focused on how US West Coast fishing communities affect and are affected by climate and groundfish. Together, these components are intended to (a) improve understanding of how climate variability and change influence the availability of groundfish to fisheries and fishing communities along the US West Coast, and (b) determine how existing fisheries management approaches perform under climate change and in an uncertain future. The first component of this project will focus on compiling data and ocean model projections to develop new species distribution models (SDMs) for groundfish. This position will incorporate information into SDMs for understanding the distribution of groundfish in relation to environmental affinities for ocean bottom temperature, ocean bottom oxygen, and other variables.

Description

The scope of this contract is to conduct both basic and applied research on the abundance and ocean distribution of Pacific groundfish including  1) Collecting available data from a wide variety of public data sources; 2) Processing this data to allow it to be incorporated into SDMs that describe the ocean distributions of groundfishes; 3) Developing new species distribution models (SDMs) for groundfish; 4) Creating groundfish SDM and ocean model inputs for Atlantis ecosystem model simulations; 5) Conducting literature reviews and data and model visualizations related to the adaptive capacity of fisheries and fishing communities to climate change; 6) Coordinating collaborative meetings and workshops and providing succinct summaries of those meetings and workshops; and, 7) Leading and assisting with preparation and publication of peer reviewed publications in scientific journals and making presentations of findings at scientific meetings.

The objective of this project is to lead development of groundfish SDMs, assist staff scientists with Atlantis ecosystem model simulations and development and implementation of a framework for understanding impacts of climate change on fisheries and fishing communities, coordinate a collaborative team working on these topics, and to translate those results into reports, presentations, and scientific publications.

Tasks

1. Data compilation, organization, synthesis, and modelling of groundfish data and ocean projections.

• Obtain, collate, and organize data (including but not limited to traditional and environmental DNA survey data, and capturing of all metadata) on groundfish abundance from California, Oregon, and Washington.
• Develop, maintain, and organize scripts in the R language to process and plot raw data and transform the information into forms that can be fed into species distribution models.
• Create species distribution models of groundfish based on historical and future ocean projections, in collaboration with the Federal Project Lead, and in relation to existing and potential future ocean uses.
• The contractor shall construct graphs and tables of associated data and model outputs using standard desktop graphics packages for use in reports, presentations at meetings, and conferences, and for preparation of peer reviewed publications, as well as present results at scientific meetings and conferences.
• The contractor shall lead and assist with scientific writing and editing sections of annual reports and peer reviewed publications.

2. Atlantis ecosystem model simulation.

• Obtain, collate, and organize groundfish data (including metadata documentation) and ocean projections for the California Current ecosystem.
• Develop, maintain, and organize scripts in the R language to process and plot raw data and projections and transform the information into forms that can be fed into the Atlantis Ecosystem Model.
• The contractor shall construct and assist with construction of graphs and tables of associated data and model outputs using standard desktop graphics packages for use in reports, presentations at meetings, and conferences, and for preparation of peer reviewed publications.
• The contractor shall assist with scientific writing and editing sections of annual reports and peer reviewed publications with staff scientists.

3.  Analysis and modeling of social adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change on the US West Coast.

• Obtain, collate, and organize data (including metadata documentation) on US west coast groundfish, groundfish fisheries, and fishing communities
• Develop, maintain, and organize scripts in the R language to process and plot raw data into forms that can be usefully applied to frameworks for assessing social adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change.
• The contractor shall construct and assist with construction of graphs and tables of associated data and model outputs using standard desktop graphics packages for use in reports, presentations at meetings, and conferences, and for preparation of peer reviewed publications.
• The contractor shall assist with scientific writing and editing sections of annual reports and peer reviewed publications with staff scientists.
• The contractor shall lead scientific writing of annual reports and a peer reviewed publication(s) relating groundfish distributions to groundfish fishing grounds as well as other existing and potential future ocean uses, such as development of offshore wind energy.

Location: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), Conservation Biology (CB) Division, Seattle, WA

Salary: This is a full-time position with benefits. Salary commensurate with experience.Overtime is not anticipated nor authorized at this time.

Travel: Travel is anticipated and authorized for this order. Travel will be required for regional meetings and conferences to discuss and present project related research in the US and beyond.

Requirements

• Education- MSc or PhD degree, from an accredited college or university with a major directly related in a field of study as related to the requirements of specific task order with emphasis in fisheries, oceanography, natural science, ecology, fish biology, mathematics, or hydrology, plus two (2) years  (for a PhD) or five (5) years (for an MSc) of experience in related field or combination of such totaling seven (7) or more years combined education/experience.
• Basic computer skills (MS Office, etc.).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency and experience dealing with large, complicated fisheries data sets, complex species distribution models, population and ecosystem assessments, spatial analysis, and quantitative modeling.
• Expertise in the use of computer coding and statistical analyses using the language R. 
• Experience using Github or other programs that facilitate an open exchange and sharing of code and data.
• Knowledgeable about groundfish ecology and west coast fisheries.
• Experience developing and leading research analyses.
• Familiarity with climate models and climate data.
• Ability to work effectively both individually and collaboratively in a team/group setting.
• Ability to receive constructive feedback and implement appropriate action.

If you are interested in being considered for this position, please APPLY THROUGH OUR ADP WEB PORTAL, AT THE LINK AT THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE.

Only qualified applicants that meet minimum experience or background requirements stated above need apply. When applying for this position you will be asked to upload your resume at the end of this online application.

Applicants should submit a resume that includes the following:

• Cover letter that briefly describes how you meet the required and preferred qualifications listed.
• Work history for past 10 years or since last full-time education.
• Education.
• Previous experience or training with similar requirements.
• Three professional references.
• Include your name in the document file name.
• Upload your resume in readable, not scanned, PDF or Word format (PDF is preferred).

How to Apply

Job Categories: Equal Opportunities. Job Types: Full-Time. Salaries: Not Disclosed.

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