About ORCA
ORCA is a whale and dolphin conservation charity dedicated to the long term protection of whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) and their habitats in UK, European and waters around the world. ORCA is committed to the study of cetaceans and promoting their conservation through enthusing, inspiring and educating others. As well as having Wildlife Officers on board ferries and cruise ships, we run regular scientific surveys, recording the species seen, their location and activity. These data help to identify areas of importance for cetaceans, and drivers of their occurrence. Our data have been collected for 18 years, and are utilised by other conservation charities, governments, researchers and students.
About the Role
The incumbent will be responsible for ORCA's data and its use. This includes managing large datasets and the addition of high quality data to these each year, with data being error checked and mapped in GIS. Data will be shared with external users, and analysed by the role holder to meet ORCA's strategic objectives for cetacean conservation. This includes the delivery of an annual report 'The State of European Cetaceans', and leading on peer-reviewed publications. Through these publications and existing links with other organisations and academic institutions, collaborative work will be continued. Student supervision at partner institutions will be undertaken. Additional work liaising with developers of data portals and mobile applications will be continued, and the role holder will support other work areas where required.
Job Description and Person Specification
Required
* High level proficiency in ArcGIS
* High level proficiency in R or similar programming language
* Experience of peer-reviewed publication, ideally as first or last author
* High level proficiency in utilising complex databases - particularly Excel and Access
* High level of attention to detail
* Experience of distance sampling analysis & other ecological modelling techniques
* Postgraduate qualification in a related field, or 3+ years postgraduate work experience
* Have an interest and enthusiasm for cetacean conservation
Desirable
* Field experience in marine wildlife surveys, ideally cetacean surveys
* Experience with citizen science datasets
Roles and Responsibilities
* Organising data collection and collation from over a hundred surveys each year
* Maintaining and checking of datasets for logical and spatial errors
* Data extraction to meet research requests
* Setup of digital data collection systems - knowledge of Microsoft Access required
* Leading ORCA's peer-reviewed publications and developing collaborations
* In house analyses and scientific writing for our annual report 'The State of European Cetaceans'
* Creation of maps from survey data
* Overseeing app and data portal development and maintenance
* Provide support to the organisation of ORCA's at sea work areas when required
* Oversee data volunteers, and supervise students throughout the season
* Provide support to other work areas of ORCA when required
The closing date for applications is midnight 31st July. Interviews will be held in Portsmouth on either the 9th and 12th August. The role will start late August in the Portsmouth office, with a hand-over period with the current Science Officer.
Application Process: Please submit a CV and a covering letter to info@orcaweb.org.uk
If you have not heard from us within 7 days of the closing date, your application has not been successful. We are unable to offer feedback at this stage.
For further information about ORCA please visit our website www.orcaweb.org.uk<http://www.orcaweb.org.uk/> or contact info@orcaweb.org.uk
We look forward to receiving your applications.
The ORCA Team
