Fisheries Biological Scientist

Job Description

Job Description

Fisheries Biological Scientist Cooperative Research Branch (CRB) Support Services Falmouth, MA (WHOI); Pocasset, MA; and Narragansett, RI

This role participates in all phases of CRB research projects by serving as a team member on cooperative studies and emphasizes collaboration with fishing partners, development of outreach materials, and participation in meetings and conferences for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

Join @Orchard in bridging science and industry to support sustainable fisheries. This role supports the Cooperative Research Branch (CRB) of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), which partners with commercial fishers to generate critical data on fishing effort, catch composition, and marine ecosystems.

As part of this collaborative mission, @Orchard is seeking a Fisheries Biological Scientist team member to contribute to field-based research projects spanning trawl, gillnet, scallop dredge, lobster trap, longline, and hook-and-line fisheries across the Northeast. From Atlantic wolffish to environmental monitoring, your work will help fill key data gaps and drive science-based management decisions.

In this role, you’ll work side-by-side with NOAA scientists and fishing partners to collect, analyze, and communicate biological and environmental data. You’ll participate in cooperative surveys, support community engagement, and help translate field results into actionable scientific outputs for assessments and outreach.

If you're passionate about marine research, enjoy engaging with the fishing community, and bring strong skills in field science and data interpretation, this opportunity puts you at the heart of impactful ecosystem science.

Key Responsibilities

As a Fisheries Biological Scientist, your primary duties will include:

• Participating in all phases of research investigation, including problem definition, planning, execution, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of findings, and analyzing and preparing data for use in stock and ecosystem assessments and fisheries management.
• Serving as a team member on cooperative research projects that bring the science and fishing communities together to address research questions and data needs.
• Coordinating with research and industry partners in defining and refining research approaches and providing regular updates to project teams.
• Developing and maintaining project documentation to ensure reproducibility of research, including metadata to support data processing.
• Assisting in the documentation and development of research-related permit applications.
• Communicating with and collaborating with fishing industry members about project goals, approaches, implementation, and results.
• Providing logistical and at-sea support for industry participants in cooperative research programs, including recruitment with community leaders, program introductions, port visits to identify setup requirements and constraints, equipment deployment and training, troubleshooting support, and data collection, and participating in research cruises, as necessary.
• Participating in the observation, collection, sorting, and processing of fish catch, biological samples, oceanographic dynamics, and other fisheries information for use in scientific research.
• Extracting relevant data sets, creating data summaries, graphs, tables, charts, or data visualizations for technical publications, outreach documents, and leadership briefings.
• Conducting statistical analysis and modeling exercises to understand fisheries, population, and ecosystem dynamics
• Fulfilling internal and external data requests, as needed.
• Producing technical documentation of research goals, methods, results, and applications for dissemination to the public, scientific community, and fishing industry.
• Developing and maintaining collaborations with other scientists to progress the utility, application, and impact of cooperative research data in stock assessments, ecosystem-based fisheries science, fisheries oceanography, and other disciplines and management
• Participating in industry meetings, scientific symposia, workshops, and conferences to support and present NOAA projects
• Providing operational support for cooperative research field work.
• Assisting in developing outreach materials, including user manuals, troubleshooting guides, newsletters, and articles on Cooperative Research accomplishments, challenges, and objectives.
• Providing logistical and at-sea support for cooperative research field research programs. (possibly)

Required Qualifications & Experience

To be successful in the role, candidates must possess the following qualifications:

• B.S. degree in a field directly related to the task requirements.
• Minimum of 2-3 years of experience in the field or in a related area, or of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master’s degree or equivalent graduate degree.
• Served as a researcher or member of a research team performing research on fisheries or related marine science.
• Ability to work collaboratively with members of the commercial fishing industry, including working at sea and at the dock.
• Experience with identifying and applying technical solutions within fisheries research settings.
• Experience manipulating complex (i.e., fisheries) data sets.
• Experience writing scientific documentation.
• Experience in the identification, collection, sorting, and processing of fish samples, biological samples, and oceanographic data.
• Familiarity with data analysis tools, such as R.
• Proficient in current MS Office software programs.
• Proficient in the primary G Suite tools, including Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Calendar, Sites, and Meet.

Essential Conditions of Employment

• Driver's License: Must hold a valid state driver’s license with the ability to operate a federal motor vehicle.

This position includes authorized overtime, travel, and training as required by the project scope. If you are ready to contribute to a vital environmental mission, we encourage you to apply.

Established in 2010, @Orchard LLC has an exceptional reputation, providing staffing solutions to time-sensitive, talent scarcity issues to deliver better talent management ROI. Our specialty lies in the critical area of program talent acquisition and resource management, not in one narrow skillset, but across many areas of technical and functional delivery. To learn more about our other exciting opportunities, visit our Jobs Page at .