Bioacoustic Research Scientist II

aisobservers; Honolulu (HI); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vacation

Sick leave

Holiday benefits

Job summary

AISobservers in Honolulu, Hawaii is seeking a Bioacoustic Research Scientist II to conduct advanced passive acoustic analyses in support of cetacean population assessments. The role requires strong expertise in acoustic theory, statistical methods, and programming in MATLAB and R.

The candidate will develop automated detection approaches and lead data analyses related to cetacean behavior and habitats. Benefits include health insurance and paid time off, with a competitive hourly wage based on experience.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent in marine science or related field.
• 3+ years of experience in related research.
• Proficiency in MATLAB and R required.

Responsibilities

• Lead passive acoustic analysis projects.
• Develop automated detection methods for cetaceans.
• Analyze acoustic datasets for stock assessments.

Skills

Underwater acoustic theory

Statistical analyses

MATLAB

R programming

PAMGUARD

Acoustic processing

Education

Master's degree in statistics or marine science

Tools

MATLAB-based software

R programming environment

PAMGUARD

Job description

A.I.S., Inc. (AIS) is a national scientific services firm supporting maritime activities requiring certification of compliance with environmental regulations as well as collecting data for use by Federal, State, Municipal, and other government agencies along the US coastline. AIS is looking for a Bioacoustic Research Scientist II to support NOAAs Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Centers’ (PIFSC), Protected Species Divisions’ Passive Acoustic Studies of Cetaceans program.

Primary Function

The Bioacoustic Research Scientist II will serve as a senior analyst and task lead, independently executing complex passive acoustic analysis projects in support of cetacean population assessments and ocean soundscape characterization for NOAA PIFSC's Protected Species Division. The position leads all aspects of PAM data analysis, metadata management, data archiving, and scientific dissemination, working in close coordination with the PIFSC Project Lead across seven task areas spanning cetacean detection and classification, Sea glider data processing, acoustic metadata database maintenance, soundscape analysis, fishery vessel acoustics, and participation in national and international scientific working groups.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop automated approaches for detection, classification, and localization of cetaceans using MATLAB, Python, R, PAMGUARD, and other appropriate software.
• Characterize call features and examine behavior, occurrence, abundance, seasonality, and habitat of cetacean species based on their acoustic call types.
• Perform quantitative analyses of acoustic datasets requiring statistical treatment for use in stock assessments (occurrence, abundance, seasonality, habitat).
• Lead and support analysis of Sea glider passive acoustic data, including species classification, propagation modeling, and cloud-based processing workflows.
• Lead data processing and archiving efforts, converting RAW acoustic files to WAV format and ensuring proper QA/QC and archiving to NCEI and partner institutions.
• Maintain PIFSC acoustic metadata databases (TETHYS, Makara, NCEI) and develop standard procedures for data ingestion, quality checking, and uploading detection data.
• Lead soundscape analyses using fixed and drifting acoustic recorder datasets to evaluate ambient noise and cetacean/anthropogenic sounds at hourly to annual scales.
• Analyze underwater and in-air recordings from fishery vessels to detect vessel/gear sounds and cetacean detections; conduct acoustic propagation analyses.
• Participate in and present at working group meetings and scientific conferences (NCEI, PAM SI, DCLDE, ASA, Marine Mammal Conference, Glider Meetings).
• Lead and contribute to peer-reviewed manuscripts and technical reports; manage analysis code in publicly accessible repositories (NOAA Fisheries GitHub Enterprise).
• Log data issues, maintain dataset logs, and report project status to the NOAA COR on a monthly basis via progress reports.
• Develop and approve projects in coordination with the PIFSC Project Lead; provide training to staff as needed.

Compensation: Candidates will be paid an hourly rate to be negotiated, and total compensation will vary depending on candidates' depth of experience. This is a full-time position. AIS benefits package includes health and dental insurance, vacation, sick and holiday benefits.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in statistics, marine science, or a related field with at least 3 years of relevant experience.
• Comprehensive working knowledge of underwater acoustic theory and practice, including acoustic propagation, sound measurement, and advanced signal processing.
• Expertise in developing, testing, and validating automated detectors and classifiers for cetacean species and anthropogenic sound sources.
• Proven ability to design, execute, and interpret advanced statistical analyses of animal abundance, occurrence, and habitat (e.g., density estimation, spatio-temporal modeling).
• Experience with acoustic localization techniques including automated algorithms in PAMGUARD and custom processing code.
• Extensive experience processing acoustic data to extract soundscape/ambient noise measurements at hourly to yearly timescales.
• Prior experience as lead contributor/author for peer-reviewed manuscripts and technical reports.
• Proficiency in both MATLAB and R, including MATLAB-based acoustic analysis software (Triton).
• Proficiency with open science practices, version control, and managing code in publicly accessible repositories (e.g., GitHub, NMFS GitHub Enterprise).
• Proficiency with passive acoustic metadata databases including TETHYS and Makara.
• Current MS Office skills.
• Ability to obtain Public Trust background investigation clearance prior to beginning performance.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in marine science, bioacoustics, or a related discipline.
• Experience with Python coding platforms and cloud-based data processing workflows.
• Familiarity with NOAA Fisheries data archives including NCEI and InPort metadata systems.
• Experience with fisheries acoustics or working with confidential fishery data under NDA.
• Prior experience presenting at major scientific conferences (ASA, Marine Mammal Conference, DCLDE).

Travel

• Travel is anticipated.
• Travel may include participation in NCEI data workshops, PAM SI meetings, DCLDE workshops, Glider meetings, Acoustical Society of America meetings, Marine Mammal Conferences, and potential field research activities.

Location

1845 Wasp Blvd., Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818 (Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center)

Equal Opportunity Employer

An Equal Opportunity Employer.

It is the policy of A.I.S. to recruit, hire, train, promote, transfer and compensate our employees and provide all other conditions of employment including Company sponsored events without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, lawful alien status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, citizenship status, veteran status or any other status protected by applicable law.

Must be able to work in the U.S. VEVRAA Federal Contractor Request Priority Protected Veteran Referrals Equal Opportunity Employer.