Position description:  

The Seattle Aquarium, a leading marine conservation organization, is looking for a Research Technician – Climate Resilience to join the Research & Animal health team. The Research Technician is responsible for assisting with all aspects of the Coastal Complexity & Resilience (CCR) program including but not limited to: gathering subtidal imagery in the field with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), maintaining and expanding ROV sensors and components, ROV imagery post-processing, annotating ROV-derived imagery to train machine-learning algorithms, expanding open-source software for ROV flight operations, and training and expanding open-source software for AI analyses. This position will work as a part of a multicultural team of internal and external partners, including Tribal, state, federal, non-profit, and academic organizations. They will be involved in multicultural communication, relationship building, and communicating research findings via scientific papers, presentations, news media, and web-based channels.

Key functions: 

This position is responsible for assisting with research including but not limited to:

• Assist in the implementation of the CCR research program using ROVs to conduct photo/video surveys of benthic community structure in Elliott Bay, the Salish Sea, and out along Washington’s Olympic Coast. Extensive details about the purpose of this work, the associated hardware/software, code, ROV videos, and media events can all be found at the link above in the Position Overview.  
• Create and modify code using Python to (1) conduct analyses of benthic community structure to advance our ecological research, (2) conduct analyses of the ROVs’ various telemetry logs to further our ROV methodological development, particularly towards ROV autonomous flight operations, and (3) expand open-source AI programs such as CoralNet and VIAME to help fine-tune and customize these programs to imagery from kelp forests.   
• Engage with the highly collaborative Washington kelp conservation, monitoring, restoration, and management community comprised of Tribal, state, federal, academic, and non-profit entities to understand the species, factors, habitat types, and environmental variables affecting kelp forest persistence and resilience throughout Washington. 
• Use software such as CoralNet and VIAME to train machine learning algorithms to automate the process of generating metrics of community structure (percent-cover and abundance) and substrate type (percent-cover) from benthic imagery. Experience with these specific programs is not necessary as on-the-job training will be provided. Candidates with software experience will be able to fine-tune and expand these open-source AI programs. 
• Assist in all aspects of field conservation research including conducting benthic surveys with a ROV, editing ROV survey videos, analyzing ROV sensor telemetry/tracking files, training AI algorithms and applying them to unseen data, correcting algorithm predictions, managing databases, analyzing data, and preparing data for publication. 
• Participate in public speaking opportunities to share results with diverse and multicultural audiences ranging from scientific conferences to schools and Indigenous communities, both in-person and virtual.  
• Act as a role model for compliance with all safety protocols, especially with regards to the activities that take place in the field when using the ROV. 
• Maintain cooperative and effective working relationships with others. Must be capable of maintaining strong relationships with multicultural research partners such as Tribes, federal, academic, private and community organizations. 
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required skills and experience: 

The skills and abilities listed below may be demonstrated through a combination of relevant cultural and community programs, jobs, internships, volunteer experience, and/or formal or informal education. If you meet some of the requirements and you are passionate about our mission and our ocean, we encourage you to apply and look forward to learning more about you.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work and research experience in natural resource management, biology, marine biology, environmental sciences, conservation, computer science, quantitative science, or related fields. 
• Demonstrated collaborative research experience at academic, state, federal, Tribal, or non-profit institutions.
• Experience with software development preferred but not required. 
• Robotics experience preferred but not required.
• Strong ability to write and modify code using Python.  
• Ability to manage code repositories via GitHub (e.g., see here for an example of how we structure open-source and repeatable code on GitHub). 
• Familiarity with, or ability to learn, benthic taxa of the Northeast Pacific, including but not limited to colonial/aggregated taxa such as sponges, tunicates, hydroids, bryozoans, fleshy red algae; and individually conspicuous species such as sea stars, sea urchins, solitary anemones, kelps, and demersal and midwater fishes.
• Familiarity with or ability to learn aspects of electronics relevant to robotics and the maintenance of ROVs such as, e.g., soldering connectors onto cables to incorporate new sensors into the ROV.
• Familiarity with Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, Access, OneDrive), virtual meeting platforms (ex. Zoom, Teams). 
• Must possess organizational skills, be self-motivated and self-directed. Able to seek guidance when needed. Must be comfortable problem-solving challenging code situations.
• The CCR program has a small but close-knit team; a successful candidate will have strong interpersonal, collaboration, and team-building skills.

Working conditions:

• This position has the option of being a hybrid position, functioning partially from home using tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other technology. However, the candidate will need to be available to come on-site multiple times a week to assist with ROV maintenance, fieldwork, etc., as such needs arise. The frequency of on-site vs hybrid days will vary depending upon the needs of the research program. A laptop will be provided to the candidate. When working remotely, the candidate will use their work computer and will require a consistently strong internet connection in order to take video calls on a regular basis. Onsite work will be performed in the field, or at the designated area at the Aquarium campus established for the CCR program. 
• Requires the ability to work in the field in a variety of environmental conditions, including working on a vessel for 4+ hours at a time, travel to remote areas on the Washington coast with limited cell service.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand; travel on uneven terrain; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell.
• Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color and peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Must be able to be on their feet 4 or more hours a day, be physically active through physical motions. 

Salary and benefits: $27-$29 per hour, Dependent on experience. Please include salary expectations in your materials. Full-time staff are eligible for the Seattle Aquarium’s comprehensive benefits package to include medical, vision, dental, an employer-funded health reimbursement account, medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts, life insurance, long-term disability, 403b retirement fund with employer match, access to a subsidized ORCA pass, a Seattle Aquarium Family Plus membership and generous paid time off.
 

How to apply: The Seattle Aquarium is committed to expanding a diverse, equitable, and inclusive conservation movement. We are invested in building an Aquarium with a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, languages, cultural ways of knowing, and life experiences. We know research shows that society has conditioned communities of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other marginalized candidates to more frequently not apply to a job because they don’t feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed even if they are qualified. If you meet some of the requirements and you are passionate about our mission and our ocean, we encourage you to apply and look forward to learning more about you.

Interested candidates should upload a résumé to our online application to be considered. Application review will begin immediately.  

SeattleAquarium.org/careers 

Please let us know if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for this job by emailing us at jobs@seattleaquarium.org.  

Note: If offered the position, candidates must pass a background check. Conviction record is not an automatic disqualifier; we are a second chance employer.  

About the Seattle Aquarium: 

The Seattle Aquarium is a respected authority on Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and the world’s one ocean. Our passionate staff increases awareness and drives the change needed to preserve and protect our marine environment by providing an inspiring visitor experience, engaging daytime and evening events, conservation education programs for people of all ages and backgrounds, community outreach to marginalized populations, research that advances understanding of animals in our care and their counterparts in the wild, advocacy and policy work, an award-winning volunteer program, high-impact marketing and communications, and more.  

Our values, developed in conjunction with our staff, include commitments to adopting and promoting sustainable practices, creating awe-inspiring experiences, constantly learning and improving, fostering an inclusive community, maintaining scientific credibility through evidence-based practices and honoring our unique place by using our location and history as a lens for larger understanding.  

Proudly accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, we’re among the top 10 aquariums in the U.S. by attendance, and we welcome over 850,000 people each year. Guided by our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment, we’re working to substantially increase our conservation impact by expanding our campus with a new building, the Ocean Pavilion. Learn more at SeattleAquarium.org. 

Timeline:

We anticipate the following recruiting schedule for those candidates who are selected for consideration. The following dates are preliminary and subject to change. We will work with candidates to set interview dates. If hired, relocation assistance is not available. 

• Application deadline: Mid-September 2024
• Priority given to applications received by August 30th.
• Interviews completed by late September 2024. 
• Start date: October 2024