Survey Coordinator / Analyst – Level III (Mesophotic Deep Benthic Communities) at Think Tank Inc. in Panama City Beach, FL, USA

Job description

• SEFSC-PEMD personnel are critical collaborators in restoration work in response to the 2010 DWH oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This aspect of the project involves surveying mesophotic and deep benthic reef communities (50 - 1800 m in depth). The survey utilizes a variety of survey platforms (e.g. ROV, AUV) to detect, classify and enumerate assemblages of corals, sponges, octocorals, crustaceans, mollusks, fishes and other fauna. Tasks should include: Survey Coordinator, Field Party Chief, Survey Watch Stander for Mesophotic Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) surveys conducted on NOAA Ships and Small Research Vessels and participate on other PEMD resource surveys, as requested.

Responsibilities

• Survey Coordination requires focused project management skills, clear and effective communication, adherence to survey SOP's, and knowledge of survey design and analysis. Additionally this position will often still be needed at all other at-sea duties. Tasks shall include but is not limited to:
• Assists the MDBC Project Management Leads in coordination of all aspects of survey preparation, execution, and completion of the survey including: setting schedules, coordinating supply/equipment needs, and selection of survey vehicles (e.g. AUV).
• Ensures cruise instructions and cruise reports are assigned and completed on time and all participant clearance forms are completed and submitted.
• Ensures adherence to data collection MDBC SOPs, and execution of at-sea mapping and ground truthing missions as Field Party Chief or Watch Leader.
• Pre- and post-survey inventory and maintenance of equipment and gear.
• Coordinating daily vessel activities, personnel, vessel position and movements, ports of call and weather and sea conditions.
• Conducting data collection, biological and/or environmental sampling and logging and processing data and/or samples under field conditions, as required and according to prescribed MDBC SOP.
• Report to the MDBC Project Leads with weekly progress updates or any time there are issues that require alteration to the survey plan.
• Complete incident reporting procedures as necessary in accordance with applicable NOAA Small Boat Program requirements (small boat operations only)
• Survey Coordination requires vigilance using project management tools to keep video reading and review duties on time. Primary duties focus on video annotation to derive habitat and fish detection and enumeration. Collected video data is annotated using a semi-automated multi-stage process including 1) automated processing using C-Vision tools, 2) human-in-the-loop review and correction, 3) data review and QA/QC, 4) data output/ingest into GCRF Oracle databases, 4) updating GitHUB data for updates and project management.
• Subject matter expert for identifying marine fishes in all life stages from mesophotic and deep reef habitats of the Gulf of America.
• Video annotation, review, and data QA/QC of ROV-based footage.
• QA/QC and review of data entry.
• Management of review and tracking sheets.
• Updating project management tools for status updates.
• Updating annotation tracking sheets.
• c) Data Management Support
• Survey coordination duties involve managing data projects via project management tools, acting as a liaison between OMI to update MDBC databases and ensure data standardization, quality, requests/delivery, backups, and security. Basic duties include data entry, QA/QC, and validation. In the near future these will also include determining and setting standards for automated data outputs to ensure interoperability and democratization of datasets.
• Develop data management strategy including design of date entry template in conjunction with National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Biogeography Branch.
• Ingest inventory of existing bathymetric information in U.S. EEZ of Gulf of Mexico between 50 and 1800 m into MDBC database. Task to be coordinated with NCEI and NCCOS-Biogeography Branch.
• Helps manage the MDBC database, associated data entry applications and MDBC survey SOP (including metadata).
• Manage data backups and security with OMI personnel.
• Work with MDBC personnel to integrate new automated data output and to meet standards for interoperability of AI/ML algorithms and libraries.
• Manage video data annotation entry projects
• Maintain project management tools to keep projects on track.
• d) Analytical Support
• Survey coordination roles involve preparing analysis of abundance data for presentation and for management decision making processes (e.g. determination of protected habitat). Advanced duties involve working with datasets to produce higher level reports and manuscripts for peer review. Basic duties include data preparation and validation prior to analysis, assisting in drafting reports and manuscripts, and review.
• Collation of existing biological data inventory products and data mining of existing acoustic bathymetric data for mesophotic and deep benthic reefs located within the United States - EEZ of the Gulf of America.
• Prioritization of new and repetitive locations for surface and subsurface acoustic mapping;
• Maintain knowledge of relevant scientific literature, provide support for data analyses and develop data summaries.
• Manage analysis projects using project management tools.
• Develop data reports, publications and presentations. Conduct preparation of manuscripts for publication in accordance with SEFSC publication review and publishing procedures.
• Coordinate abstracts, presentations, and any resultant publications with the GCRF-BC
• Attends professional meetings and publishes advances in peer review literature.
• e) Outreach and Education
• Participate in public outreach and education efforts. Examples of outreach and education activities include marine science education at local schools, participating as judges for local science fairs, conducting and participating in outreach and education tours of the SEFSC facilities and NOAA ships (in conjunction with federal employees), manning of outreach booths at local fairs and festivals.
• f) Scientific Meetings
• Contractor may be required to prepare for and present, facilitate, or participate in various position related workshops, scientific meetings, symposiums, and public forums. Events consist of, but are not limited to the following:
• Attend scientific meetings (e.g., American Fisheries Society, Larval Fish Conference, Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the American Institute of Fisheries Research Biologists, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography) and present scientific results, as required.

Requirements

• MS Degree (or higher) in Marine Science or a related field of study or BS Degree in Marine Science or a related field of study plus five (5) years of relevant experience.
• Computer literate and experienced with common word processing, database, statistical, and graphics programs. Program knowledge should include PRIMER, Microsoft SQL and ArcGIS (specific experience with Spatial, Geostatistical, and 3d analyst extensions). Capable of writing reports at the college level and making oral presentations.
• Proficient in the use of fish, invertebrate, and protected species identification books and keys. Knowledge and identification of mesophotic and deep reef taxa from the Gulf of America.
• 10 years of experience in at-sea data collection utilizing Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), Submersibles (HOVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs).
• Ability to collect, process, label and track marine specimens for analysis or museum vouchers, including barcode label creation.
• Expert knowledge of acoustic mapping methodologies including ability to analyze multibeam, side-scan, and synthetic aperture sonar data and use of associated software (e.g., ArcGIS, Caris, Seabird, Fledermaus).
• Knowledge of procedures when encountering endangered or threatened species.
• Sea going contractors who participate on research cruises on Office of Marine and Aviation Operations' NOAA ships will be required to annually/biennially (age dependent) submit a NOAA Health Services Questionnaire (NOAA Form 57- 10-01) and Tuberculosis Screening Form (NOAA Form NF 57-10-02) to OMAO health services to determine fitness for sea duty. Sea going contractors must have a current tetanus vaccine (once every 10 years).

Skills

Required

• PRIMER
• Microsoft SQL
• Caris
• Seabird
• Fledermaus