Research Associate: Germany
(Hydroacoustics, Fisheries Biology, Biological Oceanography, Physics, Computer Sciences)
The Institute of Sea Fisheries of the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, one of 15 Federal Research Institutes for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries in Germany, is offering a research position limited to 36 months starting at the earliest possible date as a Research Scientist (m/f/d) in part-time with 65% of regular working hours.
The position will include the opportunity for further scientific qualification (PhD, doctorate). The research will focus on using and developing hydroacoustic methods to improve input parameters for the North Sea saithe stock assessment. This is a fixed term post within the Operational Observation Systems research unit in accordance with § 2 Abs. 1 S. 1 Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz.
Saithe (Pollachius virens) is a key species within the German fisheries. Uncertainties in the current stock assessment arise from insufficient catchability of saithe and possibly insufficient spatial resolution of fisheries independent surveys. Both, commercial fisheries and scientific surveys to record stock parameters of saithe are carried out with demersal trawls. An unknown proportion of saithe is distributed outside of the sampled layers. Concurrent acoustic recordings bear the potential to quantify this unknown proportion. Continuous recording of hydroacoustic data could significantly increase the spatial and temporal resolution of saithe stock information.
Research questions:
- Can the use of hydroacoustic information for distribution and abundance estimates reduce uncertainties within the stock assessment of saithe and better resolve and explain stock trends.
- Can the opportunistic and automated collection of hydroacoustic data from commercial vessels, in combination with catch information, be a viable data source, or is a scientific acoustic trawl survey necessary to reduce uncertainties?
The research questions will be addressed in cooperation with the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center (Seattle, WA, USA) and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of the University of Washington (Seattle, WA, USA). The qualification/doctorate can be obtained through the University of Hamburg.
Your tasks:
- Participation in commercial and scientific seagoing voyages and collection of hydroacoustic and biological data
- Application and development of hydroacoustic methods for the detection and identification of saithe using open source and commercial software packages
- Application and development of statistical methods to estimate the abundance and biomass of saithe
- Participation in and presentation of results at relevant scientific working groups and conferences
- Publication of results in scientific journals and other suitable media
Professional requirements:
- University degree (MSc or equivalent) in marine biology/ecology, physics, mathematics, engineering, computer science, bioinformatics or related fields
- Experience with advanced statistical methods and population dynamics modelling (e.g. geostatistics, VPA and its derivatives)
- Programming skills (Python, R, Julia, C, Java or similar) and experience in the development of open-source software
- Knowledge of hydroacoustic methods and data analysis is desirable
- Knowledge of numerical modelling is an advantage
Personal requirements:
- Willingness to participate in multi-week seagoing voyages and other professional multi-day travel (national and international)
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and proven ability to work in a team.
- Goal-orientated working style, independent working style, high degree of initiative
- Ability to analyse complex issues
- Previous sea-going experience is an advantage
Further information
Applications close on the 30 August 2024. For further information including the application process, please visit here.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Matthias Schaber (matthias.schaber@thuenen.de) or Dr. Sven Gastauer (sven.gastauer@thuenen.de).
