Marine Development Analyst Level 2

POSITION DESCRIPTION :

The Marine Development Analyst Level 2 will support the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) by providing scientific and technical expertise related to the coexistence of fisheries and offshore development. The analyst will contribute to regional-scale ecosystem research and monitoring, evaluate the impacts of marine development activities-such as offshore wind-on NOAA's surveys and stock assessments, and support collaborative initiatives with the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) and other partners. Responsibilities include conducting technical reviews of regulatory documents, analyzing spatial and temporal fisheries data, developing statistical survey designs, and performing impact assessments on marine ecosystems and fisheries operations. The position also requires preparing manuscripts, technical reports, and presentations, contributing to committee and working group activities, and supporting the integration of new observation systems. The analyst will play a key role in formulating data-driven recommendations for mitigating development impacts on NOAA trust resources and operations.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

• Support scientific needs related to the co-existence of fisheries and offshore development.
• Provide scientific support to the joint NEFSC and GARFO.
• Support projects to more effectively engage in the science and management activities related to marine development.
• Advance regional collaborative ecosystem-scale research and monitoring programs; and analyze the effects and impacts of proposed developments at regional scales, including impacts on NOAA's scientific enterprise, e.g., surveys and 60+ stock assessments.
• Conduct technical reviews of marine development project-specific regulatory submissions.
• Advance cooperative research activities with NOAA collaborators including regional fishing industry partners.
• Support the technical needs and participate in the scientific committee(s) of emerging regional fisheries and marine development
• Through collaboration with experts, evaluate and address the impacts of pending developments on NOAA Fisheries Surveys, assessments, and management measures.
• Formulate and support technical analyses of regional monitoring programs and site-specific plans.
• Analyze and present NOAA fisheries data, including spatial and spatio-temporal analyses of fisheries independent and fisheries dependent data.
• Develop and evaluate new statistical survey designs and survey methods for sampling and modeling fish populations, including the integration of new methods and designs with existing approaches to support stock assessment. Develop and evaluate observation system simulation models and similar approaches to evaluate the effects of changes to fishery resource statistical survey design and sampling methods, including the integration of existing time series.
• Development of manuscripts for publication, technical memorandums / reference documents, and presentation materials.
• Contribute to seagoing research and monitoring to assess ecological components that may be impacted by marine development.
• Identify, develop, maintain, and update needed GIS datasets, database, and metadata.
• Perform quality assurance and control (QA / QC) on any collected GIS data.
• Add metadata from new data streams to InPort, the NMFS Enterprise Data Management Program and make all public data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR).

REQUIREMENTS :

• Advanced Degree (Masters or PhD) degree in a field directly related to the task requirements.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the field
• Advanced knowledge of the theories, principles, and methods in fisheries / marine ecosystem sciences with the ability to conduct and direct an advanced program.
• Advanced experience in statistical applications in fisheries research and survey design / methods, impact assessment, and modeling
• Advanced knowledge of fisheries observation systems development and modeling approaches.
• Data processing and visualization in both relational and GIS data applications; experience working with fisheries dependent and fisheries independent Data
• Experience with spatial data analysis and in the design, development, and management of relational databases (Oracle) for scientific information.
• Advanced knowledge of a programming language, like R (preferred) or python.
• Advanced knowledge of active acoustics theory, principles, methods, and implementation to assess ecological communities, oceanographic structure, and ocean currents (e.g., echosounding and ADCP data).
• Experience working with a broad diversity of fisheries entities-fishing industry, fishery and marine scientists, and government levels
• Ability to work independently and as a team member; leading, collaborating, or consulting to contribute to multiple projects.
• Effectively communicate research results in reports, including peer-review publications, and presentations to other scientists, managers, policy makers, related industry groups, or the public.
• Experience in formulation and execution of research programs of considerable scope and complexity.
• Experience and expertise working on fisheries science within the context of other marine uses preferred.