Marine Global Earth Observatory (MarineGEO) Director

Position Description

The Smithsonian Institution invites applications for the position of Director of the Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network and Marine Global Earth Observatory (MarineGEO) program. MarineGEO is a global network of 24 current observatories and many international project partners, led by the Smithsonian, that conducts coordinated large-scale research to understand the changing structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems and how to sustain them. The candidate should be a distinguished mid-career biologist or environmental scientist with an outstanding record of productivity and demonstrated experience in inspiring and leading international collaborations in marine ecological or marine environmental science.

The Director will lead continued growth of the MarineGEO network and research program, strengthen existing and emerging partnerships with complementary programs internationally, and build and steward MarineGEO’s collaborations and relationships with the broader ocean research community across the Smithsonian’s scientific units. The MarineGEO Director will report to the Director of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and the Smithsonian’s Undersecretary for Science and Research (USSR).

Responsibilities and Duties 

• The Director will, working with network members and stakeholders, develop an updated vision and strategy for MarineGEO.
• The Director will provide scientific and administrative leadership of MarineGEO’s globally distributed research program, inspiring and catalyzing interdisciplinary research programs linking marine ecology, biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability. This includes working productively and regularly with MarineGEO’s Executive Committee, Smithsonian and unit leadership, and network partners.
• The Director will advance use of the latest technologies in remote sensing, in situ monitoring, and AI tools in the MarineGEO network.
• The Director will lead stewardship and strategic growth of MarineGEO’s network of collaborating research partners and observatories, and the budgetary base required to support these activities.
• The Director will provide fundraising leadership for MarineGEO’s global research program by developing and implementing extramural funding strategies that include both successful competition for public grant opportunities and cultivation of philanthropic support.
• The Director will oversee administration of MarineGEO’s Central office and staff of four current FTEs based at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, along with extramurally funded post-doctoral fellows, interns, and other support staff.
• The Director will ensure that MarineGEO’s work addresses on the ground management and conservation needs and support for wise management of coastal marine life and resources across the network.
• The Director will build and steward partnerships with complementary programs worldwide, such as the Coastal Carbon Network and Marine Invasions group based at SERC, the Ocean DNA program at the NMNH, the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network, the Global Ocean Observing System, and marine-centered federal agencies.

Requirements

• Doctoral degree or equivalent level of specialized experience in a relevant field of natural
  resources management, environmental, social, or interdisciplinary sciences.
• Distinguished record of research productivity in marine ecology, biodiversity science,
  conservation, or related subject area, including demonstrated leadership in collaborative marine
  or environmental science.
• Strong record of success in obtaining research funding from competitive grants, contracts, and
  philanthropic sources.
• Demonstrated experience in managing and organizing teams and coordinating large-scale
  research projects and teams.
• Excellent communication skills at all levels, including with internal and external collaborators.

Research Environment

MarineGEO’s Central staff are based at SERC, a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution dedicated to environmental research and education around the world. SERC’s 2,650-acre campus is a living laboratory for long-term ecosystem research on forests, farmland, wetlands, shorelines and estuaries. SERC is strategically located in a rural landscape with immediate proximity to the Baltimore-Washington DC-Annapolis urban system on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay and central to the Bay’s large watershed. SERC’s vibrant community of 150 staff includes principal investigators, educators, technicians, postdocs, and graduate and undergraduate researchers, who annually engage and collaborate with interns, 500+ volunteers, and 15,000 public visitors. 

MarineGEO is centrally situated in the Smithsonian’s pan-institutional Life on a Sustainable Planet (LSP) initiative. Research and education through LSP address grand challenges in environmental science by working across ecological scales, conducting long-term studies, and engaging in comparative, synthetic studies. The MarineGEO program collaborates across the Smithsonian Institution, including with colleagues at SERC, the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. MarineGEO’s research and development hub consists of four Smithsonian-based observatories and our Central staff, together called the Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network (TMON), who are dedicated to long-term ecological time series of coastal habitats at SERC, the Smithsonian Marine Station (NMNH-SMS) in Fort Pierce, Florida, the Carrie Bow Cay field station (NMNH) in Belize, and at STRI’s Bocas del Toro Field Station in Caribbean Panama. The TMON stations form the hub of MarineGEO’s network, which also includes ~20 partner sites outside the Smithsonian. The MarineGEO Director also engages with federal and state agencies, universities, and organizations around the world. We value public engagement, developing programs in participatory science, and contributing to science education and science communication at SERC and the wider Smithsonian Institution.