Bioacoustics Scientist

A.I.S., Inc. (AIS) is a national scientific services firm supporting maritime activities requiring certification of compliance with environmental regulations as well as collecting data for use by Federal, State, Municipal, and other government agencies along the US coastline. AIS is looking for a Bioacoustics Scientist to support SEFSCs Marine Mammal & Turtle Division (MMTD).

Primary Function:

The Bioacoustics Scientist will develop and manage passive acoustic research projects for NOAA SEFSC’s Marine Mammal & Turtle Division, focused on cetacean distribution, ecosystem ecology, and anthropogenic impact assessment. The role encompasses field data collection, laboratory analysis of acoustic data, database management, and scientific reporting in support of marine mammal stock assessments for North Atlantic right whales, Rice’s whales, and sperm whales.

Duties / Responsibilities:

• Manage passive acoustics ecology research on cetaceans within SEFSC jurisdiction with specialized focus on North Atlantic right whales, Rice’s whales, and sperm whales.
• Provide general laboratory assistance including data archiving, computer maintenance, and construction and maintenance of acoustic hydrophone recorders (moored/drifting hydrophones, towed arrays) and associated oceanographic equipment.
• Participate in fieldwork on an as-needed basis, including driving government vehicles; deploy/retrieve drifting and moored hydrophones; deploy and monitor towed hydrophone arrays, sonobuoys, and/or gliders.
• Analyze and interpret archived acoustic data to detect, localize, and classify biological and anthropogenic sound sources.
• Conduct advanced acoustic analysis to address NOAA Fisheries Passive Acoustic Ecology Program research objectives, including leading/developing research ideas.
• Upload all metadata to SEFSC’s acoustic databases and servers; maintain deployment and detections databases.
• Participate in periodic SEFSC, MMTD, and Passive Acoustic Ecology team meetings with Program Leads, NOAA Fisheries staff, and Center leadership.
• Conduct fieldwork related to acoustic data collection, archiving of data, report and manuscript writing, and presentation of results.

Compensation:

Candidates will be paid an hourly rate to be negotiated, and total compensation will vary depending on candidates’ depth of experience. This is a full-time position. AIS benefits package includes health and dental insurance, vacation, sick and holiday benefits.

Minimum Qualifications:

• D. from an accredited college or university with a major directly related to acoustics, fisheries, oceanography, natural science, or mathematics.
• 10 years of experience in related fields.
• Experience analyzing anthropogenic noise in the marine environment using acoustic metadata databases and scientific bioacoustics software programs such as PAMGuard or Raven.
• Experience programming in MATLAB and/or R.
• Experience building, maintaining, and repairing real-time acoustic hydrophones (towed hydrophone arrays, sonobuoys) and autonomous hydrophones (drifting and/or moored).
• Experience with implementation of legislative mandates such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act for highly endangered marine mammal species (e.g., Rice’s whales or North Atlantic right whales).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in NOAA Fisheries cetacean bioacoustics research.

Travel:

• Travel is required to support field deployments to collect biological and environmental data from various survey platforms (aerial, ship, unmanned systems);
• Participation in meetings, workshops, conferences, and prescribed training is also required.