Senior Research Associate I

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The Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) at the University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science has an exicitng full time opportunity for a Sr. Research Associate I. The position is situated at the NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) Marine Mammal and Turtle Division located in Miami, FL.  The research includes conducting passive acoustic studies of the distribution, occurrence, movements, and density of marine mammals and anthropogenic noise sources in waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the North Atlantic, and the Caribbean. This research will improve our understanding of marine mammal ecology and evaluation of restoration projects to address the injury to marine mammal populations that occurred from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Research will involve close collaboration with scientists from the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and with scientists at institutions including Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Universidad Veracruzana, and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The incumbent will utilize a solid foundation in acoustic analysis techniques to support core missions of the SEFSC Marine Mammal Branch.  Beneficial experience can include work in noise estimation, acoustic filtering, and AIS vessel data processing. Experience developing and evaluating automated bioacoustic signal detectors and classifiers and working with large multi-year acoustic and AIS datasets is preferred.  Programming experience is essential; experience programming in Matlab and R is preferred.

The project will include project management and analytical work for passive acoustic data collected from research surveys focused on marine mammal ecology.  Analytical work will include detecting and classifying marine mammal calls and noise signals in acoustic recordings, characterizing seasonal variability in occurrence and distribution of marine mammals and noise sources, and associating AIS-based vessel traffic data with acoustic recordings, and technical writing to disseminate project results.  Project management will include handling fieldwork and meeting logistics, leading workshops and webinars, communicating with project team members and stakeholders, and writing reports. The project may involve both analytical and fieldwork.  The working location will be at the SEFSC laboratory in Miami, FL.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED

The incumbent will work with minimal daily supervisory oversight but will periodically report to other CIMAS and SEFSC staff to ensure project commitments are achieved and will be under the general supervision of the Director of CIMAS. The incumbent is expected to report periodically to the Director of CIMAS and their SEFSC advisor on work progress, and will derive technical guidance regarding his/her work through interactions with SEFSC and CIMAS staff.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Develop, implement and evaluate manual and automated methods to detect and classify biological and anthropogenic sound sources in long-term acoustic monitoring recordings, including identifying calls of acoustically known and unknown marine mammal species.
• Evaluate detector performance, including false alarm and missed call rates
• Characterize and compare spatiotemporal occurrence and variability in marine mammal call detections and anthropogenic and natural noise sources
• Perform soundscape characterization analyses, including evaluating ambient noise as the statistical distributions of sound pressure spectrum levels and identifying the main physical, biological, and anthropogenic components of the soundscape to better understand the noise contribution from sources such as shipping and seismic surveys
• Manage and analyze AIS vessel traffic data and associate it with acoustic recordings to improve understanding of shipping and seismic survey noise sources
• Manage and analyze large datasets efficiently, including QA/QC and archiving raw data and analytical results from passive acoustic moorings
• Perform project management including handling field work logistics, leading workshops and webinars, communicating with project team members and stakeholders, and writing reports
• Use various software applications to assemble, manipulate, and format data and write reports, including customizing analyses using basic programming skills
• Write reports and present findings in scientific settings including in peer-reviewed publications
• Execute multiple projects, provide frequent status reports, and identify and communicate challenges to project success to ensure project goals and deadlines are achieved
• Work in a team collaborating and communicating regularly with other SEFSC and CIMAS staff
• May participate in multiday fieldwork for acoustic data collection and oceanographic instrument deployment.
• Provide additional ad hoc program duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Required education is an MSc degree in marine mammalogy, bioacoustics, ocean sciences, or related field and 3 years of relevant experience.  Requirements also include bioacoustics experience including detecting and classifying bioacoustics and noise signals in passive acoustic data, statistical analyses of spatiotemporal occurrence of sound sources, generating reports/manuscripts, and working with large, multi-year passive acoustic and AIS vessel traffic datasets. Ability to assist with planning of fieldwork, meetings, and workshops, and willingness to participate in fieldwork at sea. Candidates with experience in automatic detection performance evaluation, acoustic localization and tracking of cetaceans, acoustic density estimation, calculating species detection range, sound propagation modeling, and/or ambient noise analysis and statistics are preferred.  Basic programming experience is required; experience working with Triton, Ishmael, PAMGuard, and/or RavenPro, and programming in R, Python, and/or MATLAB is preferred.  The candidate must be capable of writing peer-reviewed manuscripts. Excellent problem solving and critical thinking skills are required, as is the ability to work independently as well as with other employees and collaborating agencies. Good organizational skills, ability to plan daily duties, and clear oral and written communication are required.

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CORE JOB SUMMARY
The Sr. Research Associate 1 - CIMAS conducts highly specialized and complex research in support of the division’s research goals and objectives and assumes responsibility for the successful operations of the laboratory. The incumbent supervises the activities of all laboratory staff and users and serves as subject matter expert and mentor to less experienced staff.

CORE JOB FUNCTIONS
1. Contributes to basic and applied research activities by collecting and analyzing data.
2. Understands and interprets research protocols and procedures.
3. Maintains an overview of relevant research findings.
4. Ensures all research is undertaken according to good research practice.
5. Designs, evaluates, and implements methods and protocols for assigned research projects.
6. Recommends purchase of new equipment for research projects.
7. Writes scientific articles and manuscripts for publication and presentation.
8. Oversees and ensures the safe handling of radioactive and hazardous materials.
9. Prepares analytical reports relative to research data.
10. Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities as necessary.

CORE QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
Master's degree in relevant field required

Experience:
Minimum 3 years of relevant experience required

Certification and Licensing:
Refer to department description for applicable certification requirements

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Learning Agility: Ability to learn new procedures, technologies, and protocols, and adapt to changing priorities and work demands.
• Teamwork: Ability to work collaboratively with others and contribute to a team environment.
• Technical Proficiency: Skilled in using office software, technology, and relevant computer applications.
• Communication: Strong and clear written and verbal communication skills for interacting with colleagues and stakeholders.

This is a core job profile description and is not reflective of all duties that may be assigned to a specific position in each individual department. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and primary responsibilities of this core job profile. Specific duties and tasks may vary based upon departmental needs. Other duties may be assigned to the above consistent with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the job.

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