Statistician

*Position is Subject to Contract Award

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

Description of Duties:

• Provide statistical analysis to inform management decisions.

• Statistically analyze spatial and temporal variability in processes experienced by migrating salmon in river systems, especially survival and migration patterns through hydropower systems and across life cycles.

• Analyze and generate relationships between fish responses (density, growth, survival, migration rate) and stressors in particular life stages.

• Develop novel probabilistic mathematical and simulation models representing complex ecological and behavioral processes with modern statistical methods.

• Provide statistical support to other researchers during study design and analysis; organize and curate ecological datasets relevant to mark-recapture modeling.

• Document and share reproducible workflows and analytical protocols; publish reports and scientific papers and present at regional/national meetings and conferences.

• Assist with field collection of fish and environmental data as needed (may involve riding in vehicles and/or boats).

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

Required:

• Education: PhD from an accredited college/university with a major related to the task order, with emphasis in statistics, mathematics, fisheries, ecology, or the natural sciences. Must have a strong quantitative background with a solid foundation and extensive coursework in statistics and probability.

• Experience: Ten (10) or more years of experience related to the task order, including familiarity with the species and habitats managed by NOAA Fisheries in the West Coast region.

Desired:

• Knowledge and experience in Bayesian statistics and mark-recapture methods is strongly preferred.

• Advanced degree in a related field - may substitute for two (MS) or four (PhD) years of experience

CERTIFICATIONS:

Required:

• Valid U.S. driver's license - required and maintained throughout the period of performance.

• Public trust suitability; background investigation cleared prior to beginning performance.

• Government-required training to be completed within 5 business days of start: NOAA IT Security, NOAA Safety, Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment Prevention & Response (NAM 1330-52.222-70(b)(6)), and Records Management 101.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Required (Deliverables):

• All analyses conducted with accepted methods and QA/QC.

• Reproducible analytical workflows documented; statistical scripts and methodologies shared via open-science platforms (e.g., GitHub).

• Analysis products archived accessibly; final data and models shared via public scientific repositories or interactive research dashboards.

• Published scientific papers and reports; regular communication with team members.

• Written status reports and other ad hoc communications; participation in field tasks as needed.

SKILLS: 

Required:

• Extensive experience in statistical modeling and data analysis; extensive experience conducting analyses and coding in R.

• Experience with programs Stan and JAGS; experience with open-science concepts.

• Strong computational skills, including ability to manipulate large environmental datasets within a command-line environment (e.g., Linux/shell scripting).

• Familiarity interpreting or interfacing with C or C++ code within a scientific modeling context; familiarity with Google Suite and Microsoft Office.

Excellent verbal and written communication; experience writing reports and publishing peer-reviewed articles; able to work independently and on interdisciplinary teams