Fishery Biologist - Food Web Ecology

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission is recruiting candidates to fill the role ofa Fishery Biologist 2 at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC) in Seattle, WA.This position is full‑time, benefits-eligible with a one‑year contract that is likely to be extended annually. The anticipated start date is November 16th, 2026.

The role supports research on the ecology and life history of salmonids and other Pacific Northwest species from freshwater and marine environments, spanning multiple trophic levels. The position is embedded within the Ecology Life History Lab focusing on Age, Growth, and Food Web Dynamics. They routinely process and analyze otoliths, scales, fin rays, diet samples, zooplankton, drift samples, and other biological materials relevant to threatened fish, their predators, competitors, and prey.

Primary duties include processing biological samples, assessing life‑history characteristics, and supporting food‑web and bioenergetics research. A key responsibility of this position is conducting diet analysis of various predators (both fish and avian), including identification of prey species such as freshwater and marine fishes and invertebrates, and quantifying diet composition to support trophic‑dynamics research. Analysis of otoliths and scales requires processing, measuring and interpreting life‑history characteristics from digital microscopic images.

Diet analysis requires accurate taxonomic identification of prey items across diverse habitats. Additional laboratory duties include preparing samples for stable isotope analysis and conducting bomb calorimetry for bioenergetics modeling. General tasks include sample and data collection, sample processing, wet‑lab experiments, care of live fish, maintenance of lab equipment, data entry, data analysis, and contributions to reports and publications.

Applicants should be detail‑oriented, organized, self‑motivated, and able to work independently with minimal supervision. Prior experience with the sample processing and analytical techniques described above and with digital imaging software is preferred. Applicants should be proficient with word‑processing and spreadsheet software.

Essential Functions
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Included in this band are professional positions that perform recurring assignments ranging from moderate difficulty where conventional or straight‑forward biological concerns are encountered to complex assignments where specialized knowledge and demonstrated competence in advanced techniques are required. (The functions listed below are characteristic of the type and level of work associated with this group and pay band. They are not all-inclusive.

Individual positions may perform some or all, as well as other similar work.)

At the lower end of the range, Fishery Biologists have a solid working knowledge of established scientific methods and techniques to perform recurring assignments of moderate difficulty. Methods and techniques are well established, apply to most situations, and do not require significant deviations. Resource planning reports generated by employees at this level involve conventional biological concerns. Reports generated may be short‑range management plans or portions of annual work plans.

Lower range work examples include:

• Following existing protocols for fish health screenings; conduct tissue sample collection, bacterial testing and analyses, blood collection and analyses, parasite identification, and necropsies on experimental fish populations. Recommend modifications of existing research protocols. Design data collection forms and set up research databases for integration of data. Compile and analyze data for reports, prepare graphics, contribute to or write papers for peer‑reviewed journals,…