Biologist 1, Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center

Florida Aquarium•Tampa, FL

20h•Onsite

About The Position

The Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center Biologist 1 is responsible for assisting in the daily care of rescued and rehabilitating marine turtles and facility operations at the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center (STRC) based at The Florida Aquarium’s (TFA) Center for Conservation (CFC) campus in Apollo Beach, FL. The position is also responsible for maintaining adherence to all Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) requirements and guidelines in conjunction with the Animal Health team and assisting with field responses for stranded marine turtles.

Requirements

Minimum of 1 year experience working with marine turtles in a rehabilitation setting.
Basic knowledge of life support systems and water quality in closed-system applications, with the ability to evaluate and troubleshoot systems in the event of malfunction.
Ability to learn and utilize the Aquarium’s Animal Record Keeping system
Knowledge of Windows and Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook)
SCUBA certification required.
Must be willing and able to obtain a valid State of Florida Driver’s License
Ability to work independently and in a team setting.
Flexibility in working weekends, evenings, and holidays.
Available for on-call emergencies or stranding events.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in biological sciences or a related field preferred, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

Ensure compliance with all Florida Fish and Wildlife regulations and consistently maintain highest level of quality as it applies to marine turtle care and husbandry.
Perform daily husbandry duties, including but not limited to, food/diet preparation, animal feeding, and medical tests/treatments to ensure high standards for sea turtle care and welfare are met.
Perform daily facility operational duties, including but not limited to, diving to clean holding tanks/ deep dive tanks, maintaining life support and ozone systems, backwashing filtration systems, and conducting water changes.
Test/adjust water quality parameters according to established standard operating procedures.
Work closely with Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center Manager to monitor animal health and provide medical care as necessary.
Assist with field response/rescue/transport of stranded marine turtles, data and specimen collection, necropsy examinations at the Aquarium and in the field, carcass disposal, and/or release of rehabilitated marine turtles.
Fulfill scheduling needs to provide 7 day/week coverage at the Center and 24-hour coverage for FWC requests for distressed or deceased marine turtle recovery and transport.
Serve as a spokesperson for the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center and the Aquarium’s Shared Purpose as needed.
Supports TFA’s Shared Purpose by participating annually in a Community/Conservation Day of Action.
Represents the Aquarium at selected professional development opportunities as appropriate.
Performs other duties as assigned or required.