Research Scientist, Bccsn

Taking action for the ocean today, so we can all flourish.

**ROLE OVERVIEW**
- Ocean Wise is a globally focused conservation organization on a mission to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Through research, education, direct-action conservation and field projects, we empower communities to take action for ocean health. We’re focused on tackling three major ocean challenges: overfishing, ocean pollution and climate change. Ocean Wise is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with staff across Canada and initiatives around world. We deliver our work through six initiatives: Arctic, Plastics, Fisheries, Seaforestation, Youth, and Whales._
- The Whales Initiative is a core initiative of the Conservation Division of Ocean Wise. The Whales Initiative comprises approximately 20 regular staff members all of whom have post-secondary degrees in science and are engaged in some aspect of applied conservation research. The initiative also employs 5-8 graduate students, undergraduate students, paid interns, and contractors at any given time. Staff in this program conduct projects on conservation genetics, marine mammal health and nutritional status, citizen science-based monitoring of trends in marine mammal abundance and distribution via the BC Cetacean Sightings Network (BCCSN), photo-identification-based monitoring of killer and humpback whales, marine mammal vessel strike and disturbance mitigation, impacts and mitigation of anthropogenic underwater noise and assessment and mitigation of the impact of toxic contaminants on marine mammals. The Whales Initiative has field offices in Victoria and Prince Rupert, laboratory facilities at the Pacific Science Enterprise Centre, and two research vessels; one based in Vancouver and the other in Prince Rupert. Research projects conducted by the Whales Initiative are considered interventions in Theory of Change terminology and are designed to generate result chains leading to specific conservation outcomes._
- The Research Scientist assists with achieving the core mandates of the Whales Initiative. Providing scientific expertise, they will work with the Research Managers to design, implement, and deliver_ numerous _research projects across different programs within the Whales Initiative._

**KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES**
- Assists in the design, review, and delivery of research projects across the initiative
- Co-creates research plans and other interventions in coordination with the Director, Senior Manager, and Research Managers and schedules to meet or exceed programmatic deliverables stipulated in funding agreements
- Supports fundraising efforts, in collaboration with the Director and Senior Manager, Whales team and the Development team, by providing conservation contents to proposals and pitches, making presentations to prospects and donors, and orchestrating the programmatic contents of proposal preparation
- Ensures that research findings and other information from the Whales Initiative are shared in a timely, strategic and comprehensive way within Ocean Wise, with the primary audience to influence and with Ocean Wise’s larger audience
- Mobilizes research outcomes into dissemination packages for Ocean Wise’s audiences as indicated in the communications strategy
- Serves as a spokesperson, as agreed with the Director and in line with the communications strategy of the Whales Initiative, by conducting media interviews, giving public lectures, and conducting similar activities to inform and motivate policy development, industry best practices and behavioral change in support of whale conservation
- Encourages Whales Initiative staff to maintain their credibility in the scientific and policy communities by assisting with the publishing of their findings in peer-reviewed journals, as relevant, and presenting them at scientific and/or other pertinent conferences
- Collaborates with other Ocean Wise Conservation Initiatives as it pertains to project synergies and sharing of conservation tools
- Prepares internal reports as well as for external audiences, funders, and stakeholders on Whales Initiative activities
- Performs any other duties as requested by the Director, Whales

**Plays a key role in the operation of the BC Cetacean Sightings Network (BCCSN) by**:

- Assessing the efficacy of the WhaleReport Alert System by analyzing ship responses (changes in speed and bearing) in response to alerts of whale presence in their travel routes
- Fulfilling data requests from external researchers wishing to use BCCSN data for conservation-based research projects and contributing to these projects where applicable
- Supervising processing of sightings and maintaining the quality and rigour of the BCCSN database
- Assisting with mapping of database sightings and performing spatial analyses in a GIS framework as needed
- Update and publish a manuscript summarizing the BCCSN Effort Model, which applies a weighting to opportunistic sightings submitted to the BCCSN to provide