Postdoctoral Scholar - COCA EBS MSE Modeller

The College of the Environment fosters existing and new collaborations between outstanding faculty, staff and students who are engaged in the study of: the solar system and Earth's dynamic land, water and atmosphere; the development and application of environmental engineering and technological advances; and the impact of policy and human actions on the environment, and the management of natural resources.

The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS) is dedicated to sustaining healthy marine and freshwater environments. Our school comprises one of the largest and most diverse academic aquatic and fisheries sciences program in the United States. Our faculty conduct innovative research from the organism to the ecosystem scale, and are recognized leaders in aquatic biology, sustainable fisheries management, and aquatic resource conservation.

The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences values the strengths and professional experience that students, faculty, and staff bring to our community. We are committed to providing excellent education to all of our students, regardless of their race, gender, class, nationality, physical ability, religion, age, or sexual orientation. We are proud of the different roles that our students, staff, and faculty play in the community of the School and in the College of the Environment. We recognize that science is richer and the SAFS community is more vibrant when a diverse group of people participate in the SAFS community.

 The postdoctoral researcher will play a crucial role in a new interdisciplinary project, ("Alaska Climate Integrated Modeling [ACLIM] Project Phase 2: next generation coupled modeling to support climate resilience in the Bering Sea social-ecological system."). Commercially important fish and crab populations will be influenced by projected climate change impacts on fish distribution and productivity.  The scope for adaptation to projected ocean changes varies across species.  The ACLIM project seeks to develop climate-enhanced stock projection models that incorporate complex interactions among ecological responses to climate change to examine the performance of different management strategies. The postdoctoral researcher will work as a member of an interdisciplinary team of oceanographers, fisheries biologists, ecosystem modelers, social scientists and economists, to extend existing climate-enhanced single species models for flatfish (yellowfin sole and northern rock sole), and snow crab by incorporating options to address otogenetic and climate-driven shifts in spatial distributions.  This researcher will utilize geospatial models to evaluate how climate change will alter the distribution and volume of suitable benthic and pelagic habitats for groundfish and crab.  Results of these statistical analyses will be used to develop split areas stock projection models to simulate the simultaneous impacts of climate impacts on fish production and shifting spatial distributions. The successful applicant will contribute to the development of, running, and analysis of results from, coupled biophysical individual-based models for Pacific cod and snow crab to project contemporary and future recruitment trends for stocks in Alaska to inform the split area models. .In previous work (ACLIM-1), management strategy evaluations (MSEs) revealed important management-induced stabilizing dynamics for pollock and other groundfish fisheries, as well as limits and tipping points in catch (around mid-century). The addition of spatial complexity of modeling efforts in ACLIM-2 will significantly expand MSEs of new climate-informed management options (such as climate-informed harvest control rules, and spatial management measures).  It is anticipated that the postdoctoral researcher will work closely with the ACLIM fishery economist who will be responsible for developing algorithms to assess alternative catch share and bycatch reduction incentive systems, and alternative seasonal and area closures options.  The postdoctoral researcher will play a crucial role in a new interdisciplinary project, ("Alaska Climate Integrated Modeling [ACLIM] Project Phase 2: next generation coupled modeling to support climate resilience in the Bering Sea social-ecological system."). Commercially important fish and crab populations will be influenced by projected climate change impacts on fish distribution and productivity.  The scope for adaptation to projected ocean changes varies across species.  The ACLIM project seeks to develop climate-enhanced stock projection models that incorporate complex interactions among ecological responses to climate change to examine the performance of different management strategies. The postdoctoral researcher will work as a member of an interdisciplinary team of oceanographers, fisheries biologists, ecosystem modelers, social scientists and economists, to extend existing climate-enhanced single species models for flatfish (yellowfin sole and northern rock sole), and snow crab by incorporating options to address otogenetic and climate-driven shifts in spatial distributions.  This researcher will utilize geospatial models to evaluate how climate change will alter the distribution and volume of suitable benthic and pelagic habitats for groundfish and crab.  Results of these statistical analyses will be used to develop split areas stock projection models to simulate the simultaneous impacts of climate impacts on fish production and shifting spatial distributions. The successful applicant will contribute to the development of, running, and analysis of results from, coupled biophysical individual-based models for Pacific cod and snow crab to project contemporary and future recruitment trends for stocks in Alaska to inform the split area models. .In previous work (ACLIM-1), management strategy evaluations (MSEs) revealed important management-induced stabilizing dynamics for pollock and other groundfish fisheries, as well as limits and tipping points in catch (around mid-century). The addition of spatial complexity of modeling efforts in ACLIM-2 will significantly expand MSEs of new climate-informed management options (such as climate-informed harvest control rules, and spatial management measures).  It is anticipated that the postdoctoral researcher will work closely with the ACLIM fishery economist who will be responsible for developing algorithms to assess alternative catch share and bycatch reduction incentive systems, and alternative seasonal and area closures options. 

Ongoing spatially informed stock projection modeling and data integration projects will provide a unique opportunity for evaluating the relationship between ecosystems conditions, future climate change, management, and the impacts on fishing communities. As well as working with an experienced interdisciplinary team with members from AFSC, the University of Washington, and NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Lab, the modeler will join the AFSC Status of Stocks and Multispecies Assessment Research Program which is a leading stock assessment and fishery management research group.  The work will also contribute to international comparison projects that will be at the forefront of developing marine resource management that is as resilient as possible to a changing environment.

This a full-time, position located at the University of Washington in Seattle, although the location at which work is to be conducted is flexible, and remote work is possible.  The post-doc will be supervised by Dr. André Punt (University of Washington)) and will primarily collaborate with Dr. Anne Hollowed (Alaska Fisheries Science Center), Cody Szuwalski (Alaska Fisheries Science Center), Ingrid Spies (Alaska Fisheries Science Center), and William Stockhausen (Alaska Fisheries Science Center). This is a 12-month initial appointment, with the possibility of renewal.

Postdoctoral scholars are represented by UAW 4121 and are subject to the collective bargaining agreement, unless agreed exclusion criteria apply. For more information, please visit the University of Washington Labor Relations website.

Responsibilities Include the following: 

• Projecting climate impacts on fish and shellfish populations using a suite of six types of models representing different levels of biological complexity.
• Supporting and improving Climate-Enhanced Single Species stock-assessment Models (CESSM) for yellowfin sole and snow crab by updating code to include impacts of projected spatial shifts in distribution of the population and fishing.
• Conducting a statistical evaluation of the effects of time and area closures on the size distribution exposed to fishing (via time varying selectivity and catchability.
• Supporting and improving a CESSM- Split Area Model to examine the relative roles of climate change on the benthic habitat characteristics (temperature, substrate type, and carbon flux and OA) on the distribution of snow crab stocks.
• Supporting, updating and improving development of full life cycle IBM for snow crab using output from the improved ROMS model that incorporates improved carbonate dynamics in space and time.
• Preparing results and leading writing efforts for peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific conferences.