Survey Coordinator and Analyst III (MDBC)

AIS•Panama City, FL

3d•Onsite

About The Position

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 Survey Coordinator and Analyst III – Mesophotic Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) to support NOAA SEFSC Population and Ecosystems Monitoring Division (PEMD). Primary Function: The Survey Coordinator and Analyst III leads coordination of MDBC surveys within NOAA SEFSC PEMD, supporting DWH oil spill restoration efforts. The incumbent coordinates all aspects of ROV/AUV survey operations, leads field crews, manages data workflows with NCEI and NCCOS, produces habitat analyses, and publishes peer-reviewed research on coral and benthic reef communities across depths of 50–1800m.

Requirements

BS Degree plus 5 years of relevant experience
Advanced proficiency with PRIMER, Microsoft SQL, and ArcGIS (Spatial, Geostatistical, and 3D Analyst extensions); able to write reports and make oral presentations
Proficient with fish, invertebrate, and protected species identification keys; knowledge of mesophotic and deep reef taxa from the Gulf of America
10 years of experience in at-sea data collection using ROVs, Submersibles (HOVs), and AUVs
Ability to collect, process, label, and track marine specimens including barcode label creation
Expert knowledge of acoustic mapping methodologies; proficiency with multibeam, side-scan, and synthetic aperture sonar data and associated software (ArcGIS, Caris, Seabird, Fledermaus)
Knowledge of procedures when encountering endangered or threatened species
Sea going contractors must submit NOAA Health Services Questionnaire and TB Screening Form annually/biennially; must have current tetanus vaccine

Nice To Haves

MS Degree or higher in Marine Science or related field

Responsibilities

Assist MDBC Project Management Leads in coordinating all aspects of survey preparation, execution, and completion including schedules, supply/equipment, and survey vehicle selection (ROV, AUV)
Ensure cruise instructions and reports are completed on time; confirm all participant clearance forms are submitted
Serve as Field Party Chief or Watch Leader; execute at-sea mapping and ground-truthing missions per MDBC SOPs
Coordinate daily vessel activities, personnel, vessel movements, ports of call, and weather/sea conditions
Serve as subject matter expert for identifying marine fishes in mesophotic and deep reef habitats
Conduct video annotation, review, and QA/QC of ROV-based footage using C-Vision tools
Develop data management strategy in coordination with NCEI and NCCOS Biogeography Branch; manage MDBC database
Ingest bathymetric inventory data for U.S. EEZ of Gulf of Mexico (50–1800 m) into MDBC database
Coordinate data standardization, quality, backups, and security with OMI; integrate AI/ML automated outputs
Collate existing biological data inventory and mine acoustic bathymetric data for mesophotic and deep benthic reef prioritization
Prepare and defend abundance analyses for management decision-making; publish peer-reviewed manuscripts
Attend professional scientific meetings and present results
Participate in public outreach and education activities