Quantitative Fisheries Scientist – Cycle Modeling and Management Analysis

Overview

Lynker is seeking a PhD-level Quantitative Fisheries Scientist – Life Cycle Modeling and Management Analysis to support NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), Fish Ecology Division, by quantitatively analyzing compiled datasets to inform management decisions. This proposed contract role will support fish life cycle and stock assessment models, simulations, spatial analysis, and open-source workflows used to evaluate stressors and management actions across fish life cycles in support of sustainable fisheries.

Hiring for this position will be contingent on contract award. Lynker will be operating under its FLOAT joint venture, a NOAA Pro Tech Fisheries 2.0 prime contract holder.*

The NWFSC is a leader in quantitative analyses supporting fisheries management for marine and anadromous species. It produces increasingly large datasets as quantitative research techniques become more complex, and researchers examine relationships between managed stocks and their environments using technical statistical approaches that continue to evolve. This role supports advanced quantitative analyses that transform empirical data into defensible insights for management decisions, permitting decisions, and stock forecasts.

Duties of the Quantitative Fisheries Scientist will include the following:

• Analyze spatial and temporal variability in abundance and composition of fish, their prey, competitors, predators, and habitats.
• Analyze and generate relationships between fish responses, including density, biomass, growth, and survival, and stressors such as environmental or ecological conditions, habitat metrics, management actions, and related factors in particular life stages.
• Contribute programming and spatial analysis expertise to construction and implementation of fish life cycle, also known as stock assessment, models and simulations.
• Support models and simulations used to evaluate cumulative effects of stressors and management actions across fish life cycles in support of sustainable fisheries.
• Emphasize incorporation of ecological interactions, including predators and prey, and expansion of model component complexity in estuary and nearshore domains.
• Share comprehensive workflow protocols and research products so others can easily interact with them and understand what was done.
• Write reports, contribute to journal manuscripts, and present results at regional meetings and scientific conferences, as needed.
• Document reproducible workflows.
• Share computer scripts and methods in an open-source framework such as Git Hub.
• Store analysis products in an accessible and organized way.
• Share data and models in an open-source framework such as an online data dashboard and/or data repository.
• Provide written status reports and other ad hoc communications, as needed.

The Quantitative Fisheries Scientist should have the following:

• Doctorate from an accredited college or university with an emphasis in a field of study related to the requirements of the task order, including geomorphology, oceanography, hydrology, fisheries, ecology, natural sciences, mathematics, and/or statistics.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience writing reports and publishing peer-reviewed articles.
• Familiarity with common workplace software such as Google Suite and Microsoft Office.
• Strong quantitative skills, including familiarity with modeling and data analysis.
• Familiarity with software such as R, Python, Git Hub, and GIS, and with open science concepts.
• Ability to manage workload, stay organized, and produce high-quality work products efficiently.
• Ability to work both independently and on interdisciplinary teams.
• Valid driver’s license, maintained during the period of performance.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Three years of experience related to the task order, including familiarity with the species and habitats managed by NOAA Fisheries in the West Coast region.

Work Environment

Work will be conducted on-site at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, WA, or at one of its associated field stations in WA or OR. Work may be performed at other than the government facility on a…