Employment opportunity: Salmon Ecologist

Are you a salmon conservation enthusiast with strong quantitative skills (that you like using) and a graduate science degree? We have a dream job for you!

Raincoast Conservation Foundation is looking to bring a salmon ecologist, biologist, or fisheries analyst onto our salmon team to advance the fisheries work we undertake in support of wild salmon recovery, coastal ecosystems and wildlife.

If you are interested and meet the selection criteria, please respond to jobs(at)raincoast.org with your cover letter and resume, which should include at least two names of referees. This position will be open until it is filled, but will not be filled before October 1, 2022.

Position overview

The successful individual will join Raincoast’s Wild Salmon team to lead our fisheries analysis work. This position requires a relevant graduate degree. The position also requires a motivated, self-starter who is excited to advance salmon conservation using science and conservation strategies that are part of a co-developed work plan that plays to the individual’s strengths. The policy landscape for this work includes engagement with government including First Nations, NGOs, academia, salmon stakeholders and the public within an overarching context that recognizes First Nation priority access to salmon fisheries. The position will report to, and work with, the Wild Salmon Program Director. The wild salmon team consists of science, policy and communication specialists who collaboratively work to deliver Raincoast’s mandate: Investigate, Inform and Inspire.

About Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Raincoast is a team of conservationists and scientists empowered by our research to protect the lands, waters and wildlife of coastal British Columbia. We use rigorous, peer-reviewed science and community engagement to further our conservation objectives. We call this approach informed advocacy.

Since 1990, Raincoast has been making progress toward our habitat and wildlife protection goals. Our on-the-ground presence has given us a deep-rooted understanding of BC’s vast coastline. We work in partnership with scientists, First Nations, local communities and NGOs to build support for decisions that protect marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitat on BC’s coast.

Duties

• Inform and evaluate salmon fisheries management within the context of a long term goal to rebuild resilient wild salmon at the population, watershed and landscape scale.
• Lead, identify and/or conduct field and desk top initiatives that further objectives for fisheries management (ecosystem based that supports recovery, resilience, and wildlife considerations),
• Provide leadership on fisheries management issues internally and externally,
• Participate in federal fisheries management planning and technical /scientific processes,
• Assist and support development of the program’s strategic direction,
• Assist and support the development of communication plans,
• Assist with development of funding proposal for identified work.

Technical skills and abilities

• Strong knowledge of Pacific salmon life histories, their threats, and their ecological role
• Ability to design and execute desktop studies and analyses,
• Familiarity with fisheries management concepts like Stock-Recruitment relationships, MSY and single-species and ecosystem-based harvest approaches,
• Comfort with reviewing, critiquing and conducting statistical analysis used in science papers and technical reports,
• Comfort with statistical coding and analysis (in programs like R),
• Ability to identify, lead or assist with studies that improve stock assessment information, fishery impacts and inform or advance ecosystem and/or place-based salmon mgmt.

Experience and knowledge

The successful candidate would have knowledge of the following:

• Stock assessment and management techniques (ie GSI, fin-clipping, CWT and other tagging, test fisheries, creel surveys, escapement surveys, etc).
• Effects and implications of BC fisheries management techniques (mark-selective fishing, catch and release non-retention, etc.)
• Harvest-related impacts to population structure, evolutionary traits, diversity and abundance,
• Effects of human activities such as climate change, hatcheries, and habitat loss etc. on recruitment, productivity, survival and abundance.

Communication skills and abilities

• Good communication skills (writing, listening, verbal, public speaking),
• Comfort advancing science-based concepts in public domains,
• Ability to comprehend and synthesize technical scientific material for personal and public consumption in verbal and written formats,
• Ability to develop and deliver presentations to both scientific and popular audiences,
• Ability to write and review manuscripts for peer-review publications,
• Support development of materials and communication strategies that build public support for salmon recovery and conservation.

Professional interests

• Willingness to engage with diverse views on harvest, fishing and fisheries management,
• Desire to engage in technical, management and stakeholder processes,
• Desire for cross-sector relationship building,
• Identification & advancement of collaborative work with First Nations, NGOs, & gov’t,
• Desire to build strong working relationships with First Nations leaders & technical staff,
• Desire to build strong working relationships with academic partners and NGOs,
• Recognition of systemic problems and desire for change within western approaches to fisheries management,
• An appreciation for other knowledge systems such as Indigenous Knowledge (i.e. Two-Eyed Seeing),
• Strong alignment with Raincoast’s vision and mandate.

Salary and details

This position is full-time (40 hrs/week). In addition to joining a dynamic and dedicated team at Raincoast, benefits include extended health coverage and flexible working opportunities.

Job Type: Full time, permanent, and 3 years minimum.
Anticipated hours: 40 hours per week.
Salary range: $80,000 – $90,000 based on the applicant’s skills and experience.
Location: Be able to work remotely, but with reliable internet access to maintain routine communication with a well-integrated online network of internal and external colleagues for meetings, workshops, conferences and dialogues, etc. Be willing to travel within coastal BC to meetings, workshops, conferences and field related excursions.

How to apply

Please send your resume and cover letter demonstrating your experience as it relates to the job requirements to jobs (at) raincoast.org. Please include contact information for at least two referees.

Email applications with “Salmon Ecologist” in the subject line. Attach a single PDF file for your one-page cover letter and your resume – name it your first and last name (e.g. Mark Smith.pdf).

The cover letter should express why you want this position and identify how you are qualified.

We thank all applicants, but only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

Raincoast welcomes applications from all interested and qualified candidates. Our organization is the product of diverse visions and perspectives and we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring. Raincoast is committed to fostering and maintaining a workplace culture that is inclusive and does not tolerate or accept discrimination or harassment.