Underwater Acoustician

About the role

The Underwater Acoustician will join A.I.S., Inc. to support NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center. The role focuses on collecting, managing, and interpreting passive acoustic datasets to evaluate marine soundscapes, species distribution, and human‑generated noise along the southeastern U.S. coastline.

Key responsibilities

• Manage and analyze long‑term passive acoustic datasets, ensuring data continuity and quality.
• Coordinate with partners for deployment planning, field collection, and data integrity.
• Perform QA/QC using established scientific standards and maintain comprehensive metadata records.
• Track datasets with spreadsheets or other structured tracking tools and deliver them to national archives such as the NCEI Passive Acoustic Archive.
• Characterize marine soundscapes, detect species presence, and assess vessel noise impacts using manual and automated methods.
• Contribute to scientific products, proposals, and outreach activities.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in marine biology, oceanography, data science or related field, or a Bachelor’s degree with at least one year of relevant research experience.
• Experience analyzing passive acoustic data or handling acoustic datasets.
• Ability to participate in fieldwork and data collection activities.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.

Required skills

• Passive acoustic data analysis
• QA/QC of acoustic datasets
• Metadata management
• Spreadsheet‑based data tracking
• Manual and automated acoustic detection methods

What we offer

• Full‑time hourly compensation negotiated based on experience
• Health and dental insurance, vacation, sick and holiday benefits
• Opportunities to publish scientific findings and present at conferences