Marine Fisheries Research Assistant

Staff - Non Union

Job Category
Non Union Technicians and Research Assistants

Job Profile
Non Union Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 2

Job Title
Marine Fisheries Research Assistant

Department
Research 2 | Pauly | Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries | Faculty of Science

Compensation Range
$4,207.63 - $5,005.45 CAD Monthly

Posting End Date
May 10, 2024

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above.

Job End Date

May 14, 2025

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. 

Job Summary

The Sea Around Us is seeking a suitable candidate to identify published literature and other data sources applicable to our marine fisheries catch reconstruction methods and data needs, to extract these data in file formats used for catch reconstruction analyses, and to complete an update of marine fisheries catches by EEZ reconstructed for the period 1950-2021.

Organizational Status

The Sea Around Us is a research initiative, which, since its inception in 1994, has made available an online searchable Atlas of reconstructed marine capture fisheries catches from 1950 to the present of all maritime countries of the world via its website at www.seaaroundus.org. This global catch database permits the testing of fisheries-related global hypotheses applied to marine conservation concerns and has served as the underlying database for many articles published by the Sea Around Us members and their collaborations in peer-reviewed journals.

Recently, the Sea Around Us obtained support from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation for 2023-2024 to: (1) complete the reconstructions of fishing effort for all maritime countries of the world; and (2) update the catch reconstructions based on the most current fisheries statistics published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

We are searching for a candidate to join an integrated team of research assistants, who will assist in the implementation of the reconstruction of the marine fisheries of the world by EEZ. The successful candidate will work closely with and is supervised by the Sea Around Us Program Manager, other Sea Around Us team members and the Principal Investigator of the Sea Around Us.

Work Performed

- Conduct in-depth literature searches on historical fisheries data (catch landings, discards, foreign fleets, fishing effort, species caught, catch per unit of effort, standing stock biomass, etc.) by using Google Scholar, Web of Science, Aquatic Science and Fisheries Abstracts or similar indexes and databases or by using the Google Dataset Search. There is a wide range of references available, such as national statistics and policy documentation, reports, scientific publication, case studies, published and unpublished literature, news articles, etc. Sources for such information include library books and periodicals, governmental and inter-governmental organizations, websites of non-governmental organizations, etc.

- Generate a library of relevant documentation that can easily be revisited by Sea Around Us researchers;

- Assist in the analysis, interpretation, quality evaluation, assembly and compilation of required research data from scientific or socio-economic literature;

- Maintain meticulous records of methodology and decisions made for all steps during project execution;

- Prepare data for inputs in the Sea Around US database in an appropriate format;

- Participate in team meetings and may be tasked with recording minutes of these meetings;

- Follow protocols and methods developed by the Sea Around Us leaders and use guidelines outlined in established literature;

- Assist with the editing and preparation of project reports;

- Assist the Program Manager or Principal Investigator with additional tasks related to the execution of Sea Around Us activities.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
Pay strict attention to details and look out for common sources of error. Consequences of error/judgement jeopardize the overall database reliability due to product and output inaccuracy. Failure to reflect reliability, accuracy, and timeliness of expected outputs will lead to loss of scientific and community support, eventually leading to the loss in trust of project outputs, and thus affecting the ability of the project to attract funding.
Supervision Received
Overall supervision comes from the Sea Around Us Program Manager. General research thrust and insights comes from the Sea Around Us Principal Investigator.
Supervision Given
None
Minimum Qualifications

BSc, some additional training in a related field and a minimum two years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.

Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

- BSc in Zoology, Biology, preferably in marine science or related fields;

- A minimum of 1 year of related experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience. - Knowledge of the sources of global fishing datasets;

- Organizational and time management skills;

- Experience with spreadsheets and/or database software;

- Advanced working knowledge of MS Office suite, with emphasis on MS Access and Excel; knowledge of SQL and/or of the R software is an asset;

- Experience working with large datasets;

- Great ability to work as a team member;

- Willingness to assist others as needed; and

- Working knowledge of French or another language other than English would be an asset.