CPP_Research_Technician_August_2024

JOB POSTING

Research Technician – Climate Resilience

Posted:                      Open to internal and external applicants.

Reports to:                Research Scientist – Climate Resilience

Status:                        Hourly/non-exempt, full time

Salary: $27-30/hour

Hours of work:          Variable schedule, 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday

Date needed:           Sep 30, 2024

Position Overview

The Research Technician is responsible for assisting with all aspects of the Coastal Complexity & Resilience (CCR) program including but not limited to: gathering subtidal imagery in the field with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), maintaining and expanding ROV sensors and components, ROV imagery post-processing, annotating ROV-derived imagery to train machine-learning algorithms, expanding open-source software for ROV flight operations, and training and expanding open-source software for AI analyses. This position will work as a part of a multicultural team of internal and external partners, including Tribal, state, federal, non-profit, and academic organizations. They will be involved in multicultural communication, relationship building, and communicating research findings via scientific papers, presentations, news media, and web-based channels.

Essential Functions

This position is responsible for assisting with research including but not limited to:

• Assist in the implementation of the CCR research program using ROVs to conduct photo/video surveys of benthic community structure in Elliott Bay, the Salish Sea, and out along Washington’s Olympic Coast. Extensive details about the purpose of this work, the associated hardware/software, code, ROV videos, and media events can all be found at the link above in the Position Overview.
• Create and modify code using Python to (1) conduct analyses of benthic community structure to advance our ecological research, (2) conduct analyses of the ROVs’ various telemetry logs to further our ROV methodological development, particularly towards ROV autonomous flight operations, and (3) expand open-source AI programs such as CoralNet and VIAME to help fine-tune and customize these programs to imagery from kelp forests.
• Engage with the highly collaborative Washington kelp conservation, monitoring, restoration, and management community comprised of Tribal, state, federal, academic, and non-profit entities to understand the species, factors, habitat types, and environmental variables affecting kelp forest persistence and resilience throughout
• Use software such as CoralNet and VIAME to train machine learning algorithms to automate the process of generating metrics of community structure (percent-cover and abundance) and substrate type (percent-cover) from benthic imagery. Experience with these specific programs is not necessary as on-the-job training will be provided. Candidates with software experience will be able to fine-tune and expand these open-source AI programs.
• Assist in all aspects of field conservation research including conducting benthic surveys with a ROV, editing ROV survey videos, analyzing ROV sensor telemetry/tracking files, training AI algorithms and applying them to unseen data, correcting algorithm predictions, managing databases, analyzing data, and preparing data for publication.
• Participate in public speaking opportunities to share results with diverse and multicultural audiences ranging from scientific conferences to schools and Indigenous communities, both in-person and virtual.
• Act as a role model for compliance with all safety protocols, especially with regards to the activities that take place in the field when using the ROV.
• Maintain cooperative and effective working relationships with others. Must be capable of maintaining strong relationships with multicultural research partners such as Tribes, federal, academic, private and community organizations.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong ability to write and modify code using Python.
• Ability to manage code repositories via GitHub (e.g., see here for an example of how we structure open-source and repeatable code on GitHub).
• Familiarity with, or ability to learn, benthic taxa of the Northeast Pacific, including but not limited to colonial/aggregated taxa such as sponges, tunicates, hydroids, bryozoans, fleshy red algae; and individually conspicuous species such as sea stars, sea urchins, solitary anemones, kelps, and demersal and midwater fishes.
• Familiarity with, or ability to learn, aspects of electronics relevant to robotics and the maintenance of ROVs such as, e.g., soldering connectors onto cables to incorporate new sensors into the ROV.
• Familiarity with Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, Access, OneDrive), virtual meeting platforms (ex. Zoom, Teams).
• Must possess organizational skills, be self-motivated and self-directed. Able to seek guidance when needed. Must be comfortable problem-solving challenging code situations.
• The CCR program has a small but close-knit team; a successful candidate will have strong interpersonal, collaboration, and team-building skills.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work and research experience in natural resource management, biology, marine biology, environmental sciences, conservation, computer science, quantitative science, or related fields.
• Demonstrated collaborative research experience at academic, state, federal, Tribal, or non-profit institutions.
• Experience with software development preferred but not required.
• Robotics experience preferred but not required.

Working Conditions

• This position has the option of being a hybrid position, functioning partially from home using tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other technology. However, the candidate will need to be available to come on-site multiple times a week to assist with ROV maintenance, fieldwork, etc., as such needs arise. The frequency of on-site vs hybrid days will vary depending upon the needs of the research program. A laptop will be provided to the candidate. When working remotely, the candidate will use their work computer and will require a consistently strong internet connection in order to take video calls on a regular basis. Onsite work will be performed in the field, or at the designated area at the Aquarium campus established for the CCR program.
• Requires the ability to work in the field in a variety of environmental conditions, including working on a vessel for 4+ hours at a time, travel to remote areas on the Washington coast with limited cell service.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand; travel on uneven terrain; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell.
• Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color and peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Must be able to be on their feet 4 or more hours a day, be physically active through physical motions.

Travel as needed to e.g., conduct fieldwork. Current research projects require regular travel within Washington (less than 25%). Occasional research trips will require overnight trips, e.g., out to the Olympic Coast.

Disclaimer

The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performance by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.