Acoustician Level 2 – Part Time, Cetacean Data Analysis & Processing Support
Job Description:
- Analyze passive acoustic monitoring datasets collected from stationary recorders, towed hydrophone arrays, drifting recorders, autonomous gliders, and other acoustic platforms.
- Develop, test, validate, and refine automated cetacean detection, classification, and localization approaches.
- Conduct quantitative analyses of cetacean occurrence, abundance, seasonality, habitat use, and acoustic behavior.
- Characterize cetacean call types and evaluate relationships between acoustic detections and environmental or anthropogenic factors.
- Perform statistical analyses supporting marine mammal stock assessments and ecological research.
- Analyze underwater soundscape datasets and compute ambient noise metrics across multiple temporal scales.
- Evaluate long-term acoustic trends and assess natural and anthropogenic sound sources within monitored ecosystems.
- Validate automated classifiers through manual review and annotation of acoustic datasets.
- Support acoustic analyses associated with autonomous Seaglider deployments and other emerging monitoring technologies.
- Contribute to acoustic propagation modeling and evaluation of species-specific detection performance.
- Maintain reproducible analytical workflows using MATLAB, Python, R, GitHub, and NOAA Fisheries data management standards.
- Document analytical methods, maintain analysis logs, and support preparation of reports, manuscripts, conference presentations, and technical summaries.
- Collaborate with NOAA scientists, project partners, and working groups to advance passive acoustic monitoring methodologies and research objectives.
Requirements:
- Master’s degree in marine biology, oceanography, acoustics, fisheries science, statistics, computer science, or related field
- At least two (2) years of relevant experience
- Working knowledge of underwater acoustic theory and practice, including acoustic propagation, sound measurement, and standard signal processing techniques
- Experience developing, testing, and validating automated detectors and classifiers for passive acoustic datasets
- Experience processing acoustic data to extract soundscape and ambient noise measurements at hourly to yearly timescales
- Ability to design, execute, and interpret statistical analyses of animal abundance to evaluate patterns in occurrence or associations with habitat or fishery variables
- Prior experience drafting reports and presenting project results at scientific meetings
- Proficiency in MATLAB and R programming languages, including MATLAB-based acoustic analysis software Triton
- Current MS Office skills
- Proficiency with passive acoustic metadata databases such as TETHYS and Makara
- Proficiency in open science practices, including use of GitHub or other resources for maintaining and archiving analysis code
Benefits:
- Comprehensive healthcare for the employee at no monthly cost
- Personal Time Off (PTO) Policy plus paid holidays
- Highly competitive compensation plan regularly calibrated against industry and location benchmarks
- 401(k) retirement plan with company-matching
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) – we’re all company owners!
- Flexible spending accounts
- Employee assistance program (EAP)
- Short- and long-term disability insurance
- Life and accident insurance
- Tuition assistance/Training/Workforce improvement reimbursement per year
- Spot bonuses for exceptional performance
- Annual Employee Recognition Awards with bonuses
- Employee Referral Program
- Free centralized, self-directed Learning Management System to learn at your own pace
- Personalized career growth plans for every employee
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