Fish Health Lab Support

Ocean Associates Inc. (OAI) is seeking applicants to provide Fish Health Lab support to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), Newport Research Station in Newport, OR. We are seeking applicants for this position prospectively, which is dependent on award of contract. OAI is a Virginia corporation established in 2003 that provides consulting and technical services to the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and the private sector. We specialize in scientific program and project management, strategic planning, professional and technical services, and stakeholder engagement, supporting government contracts.

Background

The Environmental and Fisheries Sciences (EFS) Division performs research that addresses the influence of factors such as vaccines, dietary supplements, temperature, and contaminants on disease and predation of fish. This research addresses and supports NOAA Fisheries and NWFSC research agendas, including: presidential executive order, EO#13921 Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth; National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture Research’s Objective 3.1 to “Develop strategies to protect the health and well-being of aquaculture species”; and NWFSC’s 5–10 Year Strategic Plan for Aquaculture Science’s recommendation to support finfish aquaculture and bolster aquatic animal disease research and expertise.

The development of finfish aquaculture relies on the rearing of healthy fish. Disease occurs during commercial culture, wasting valuable time, resources, and products. Disease management issues will only increase as global temperatures and demand for aquaculture products increase. The EFS Division conducts research in the areas of aquatic animal health and disease in order to assess and minimize the impact of diseases on both important cultured and wild species. These areas of research are important to the Center’s research programs with finfish and shellfish aquaculture as well as characterizing disease interactions between and among both wild and cultured species. Disease of aquatic species can severely impact the health of both cultured and wild aquatic species at various life stages.

Description

Conduct both basic and applied research in the areas of aquatic animal health and disease in order to assess the impact of stressors and mitigating treatments on both cultured and wild aquatic species. These topics are important to the Center’s various aquaculture research involving finfish and shellfish, as well as to characterizing environmental interactions between, and among, wild and cultured aquatic species.

Tasks

The employee will perform the following key tasks:

Task 1 Husbandry of multiple aquatic species

• The employee shall perform husbandry for aquatic species (e.g., salmon, sablefish) reared and held at the laboratory facility. Required husbandry practices shall include cleaning tanks and troughs, changing filters, feeding aquatic species, moving and distributing aquatic species, monitoring growth of aquatic species and adjusting feeds and densities as needed, measuring water quality parameters, monitoring and maintaining system processes (e.g., heaters, chillers, pumps, filters) in order to produce healthy finfish and shellfish.

Task 2 Laboratory organization and operation

• Properly organize the laboratories, noting when supplies and resources need re-stocking, and maintaining needed safety and chemical hygiene practices.
• The employee shall maintain and organize laboratories, which includes having labs: with properly maintained and operational laboratory equipment; in compliance with the Center’s safe chemical hygiene practices, updated online chemical database, and properly labeled chemicals; and with personnel and equipment adhering to laboratory safety practices. The employee will assist property manager and purchasing agent with laboratory and office property inventory, and consumables requests in order to maintain NOAA property records and ensure that labs are stocked with general and assay-specific consumable supplies.

Task 3 Pathogen challenge

• The employee shall participate in determining and analyzing pathogen challenges of fish, which includes culturing pathogens of fish/shellfish in agar and broth media, characterizing the pathogen using a variety of techniques (e.g. media culture, spectrophotometer, PCR) and properly storing frozen bacterial stock for later experiments.
• The employee shall expose fish/shellfish to pathogens, collect samples by necropsy, collect mortalities, record data, and analyze results using established laboratory protocols in R Studio.
• The employee shall monitor mortalities over time. Autoclave waste at the end of experiments.

Task 4 Assistance with laboratory experiments

• The employee shall assist in method optimization and utilization of various assays in order to evaluate factors that may alter aquatic species health. Optimizing methods may include determining and obtaining experimental baselines for positive and negative controls, and range-finding of appropriate treatment levels in pilot studies. Method utilization involves applying assays in larger scale experiments using live aquatic species, tissues, and/or factors that may affect their health, e.g., stressors, pathogens, vaccines, feed additives. Assays can include the use of specialized equipment, such as spectrophotometer, video cameras, distillation glassware apparatus, microplate readers, etc.
• The employee shall construct graphs and tables of associated data using standard desktop graphics packages for use in reports, presentations at meetings, and conferences, and for preparation of peer reviewed publications. The contractor shall be responsible for scientific writing and editing of sections of annual reports and peer-reviewed publications with staff scientists.

Start Date: Start date is contingent on award of contract.

Location: NOAA/NMFS/NWFSC, Newport Research Station, Newport, OR

Salary and Benefits: This is a full-time position with benefits. Salary, commensurate with experience, between $30-40/hr.

Requirements

Applicants must have the following minimum qualifications:

• Master’s degree, or higher, from an accredited college or university with a major directly related in a field of study as related to the requirements of specific task order outlined below with emphasis in fisheries.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively both individually and collaboratively in a team/group setting.
• Ability to receive constructive feedback and implement appropriate action.

Additional preferred requirements:

• Experience in working with diseases that affect aquatic species.
• Experience in fish husbandry practices of aquatic species, and knowledge of water quality issues that may affect aquatic species.
• Experience in applying microbiological, chemical, and behavioral techniques that are applied to research questions on fish health.
• Seven (7) years or more experience working in a laboratory setting.

Only qualified applicants that meet minimum experience or background requirements stated above need apply. When applying for this position you will be asked to upload your resume at the end of this online application.

Applicants should submit a resume that includes the following:

• Cover letter that briefly describes how you meet the required and preferred qualifications listed.
• Work history for past 10 years or since last full-time education.
• Education.
• Previous experience or training with similar requirements.
• Three professional references.
• Include your name in the document file name.
• Upload your resume in readable, not scanned, PDF or Word format (PDF is preferred).

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