Fishery Biologist ; Statewide Salmon Research Biologist - PCN

Position: Fishery Biologist 4 (Statewide Salmon Research Biologist - PCN 117025)
Job Description

This position is open to Alaska Residents only.

Please check our residency definition to determine if you qualify.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries is recruiting

for a Fishery Biologist 4 located in Anchorage, Alaska!

What you will be doing:

As the lead of the Research and Data Services Unit in the Chief Fisheries Scientist for Salmon Office, this position works with a team of fisheries scientists, biologists, regional research coordinators, and senior-level biometricians to design, plan and perform research to support State of Alaska needs for sustainable fisheries management. Primary responsibilities for this position are oversight of the Division of Commercial Fisheries salmon biometrics unit;

coordinating multi-regional data requests; leading efforts to rescue and resurrect historical data sets; and training staff in best practices of reproducible science and analyses. This position is also responsible for effectively communicating results to diverse groups (scientists, managers, industry, and public), and authoring fisheries reports, technical publications, and external manuscripts.

Our mission, values, and culture:

This position helps fulfill the division's mission to manage subsistence, commercial, and personal use fisheries in the interest of the economy and general well-being of the citizens of the state, consistent with the sustained yield principle by conducting scientifically sound assessments to help manage sustainable uses of Alaska's fish, shellfish and aquatic plant resources.

To assist the division in pursuit of this mission, the Research and Data Services Unit is responsible to:

* Ensure that high quality and trustworthy research and assessments are used to manage salmon and other resources by providing expert statistical and modeling input for salmon stock assessments, escapement goal development, and forecasting;

* Facilitate efforts to retrieve and archive historical data and samples for future management and research uses;

* Support ongoing activities of the division and department through concerted and coordinated assistance to regional and headquarters staff; primarily through:

1) providing technical assistance on scientific research including design, methods, training, reporting, and budgets;

2) communicating stock assessment and research results with appropriate context; and

3) providing expert reviews, recommendations, and applications to fishery managers, biologists, and stakeholders.

The Alaska Department of Fish & Game strives for a diverse and inclusive workforce where safety and wellbeing are paramount and employees at all levels promote a culture where everyone is valued, treated equitably, and treated respectfully.

The benefits of joining our team:

The incumbent is a member of a diverse and committed team of specialists who collaborate to develop and implement analyses for quantitative estimation of abundance, responsive harvest strategies, biological reference points, monitoring fish health, applying genetics-based information, tagging and aging, and surveying the marine ecology for finfish species statewide. This position offers the incumbent a challenging and fulfilling, professional opportunity to collaborate with biologists, biometricians, scientists, and decision makers across state and federal agencies to ensure the best available science is used to sustainably manage the resources of the State of Alaska for the benefit of the people of Alaska.

The working environment you can expect:

This full-time position is based at the ADF&G office in Anchorage, Alaska. This is a dynamic position with regular interactions with scientists, three world-class laboratories, an ocean ecology program, biometricians, as well as ADF&G staff from other divisions, and provides potential for collaborations with university, federal, and international researchers. There are opportunities to travel within Alaska, the U.S., and internationally for meetings and can include field sampling at remote locations or living and working aboard research vessels.

This position occasionally requires time working outside normal business hours and on weekends for meetings and work sessions. We offer flexibility with work schedules and options for hybrid telework. Requires frequent travel in-state (2-5 trips/year) and out-of-state (1-2 trips/year) typically 2-5 days in length for various meetings. These trips may include international travel to Canada. This position may require travel in small planes, watercraft, working in inclement weather, or at sea.

Who we are looking for:

We are interested in candidates who possess some or all of the following position specific competencies:

* Working knowledge of statistical, mathematical, and population dynamics theory along with the principles and techniques of quantitative biological research.

* Ability to use contemporary statistical coding tools (e.g., R, Python), knowledge of reproducible scientific principles and methods (e.g.,…