진학프로석·박사 채용 접수 플랫폼

Human activities have a colossal impact on marine ecosystems, primarily due to overfishing, pollution, and climate change. Growing concern about these impacts has led many countries to identify Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) and establish networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) worldwide to ensure the conservation of these areas, their ecosystems, and biodiversity. 

Seabirds are increasingly used to identify KBAs because they are considered goo indicators of marine biodiversity hotspot. In addition, thirty percent of seabirds are threatened, and in the last six decades, 70% of seabirds have disappeared. Their conservation status is deteriorating at a faster rate than any other bird group, and their survival largely depends on the proper management of human activities. Their greatest threats at sea come from fishery bycatch and discards, but also other human activities such as aquaculture and offshore wind farm construction. In this project, we gather all available information on human activities in all Spanish marine demarcations.

The growing number of seabird movement studies using high-resolution GPS devices encouraged us to understand their overlap with human activities and the current network of MPAs and to identify KBAs using seabird tracking data. Through this approach, we aim to propose an expansion of the network to improve the conservation of marine ecosystems and the species within them.

A Data Scientists position to analyse large data sets and coordinate the data management activities of the AMPLIAMAR project is offered at University of Barcelona. The Data Scientist will analyse large data sets on animal tracking, vessel tracking systems and environmental variables.

The Data Scientist will have the following key responsibilities:

Data Collection and Integration: Gather data from a variety of sources, particularly GPS tracking and vessel tracking systems, ensuring data is comprehensive and relevant to project needs.

Data Cleaning and Pre-processing: Clean, pre-process, and standardize datasets to ensure data quality, consistency, and usability for analysis.

Statistical Analysis: Apply statistical techniques to analyse and interpret complex datasets, identifying meaningful patterns, trends, and correlations across multiple data streams.

Model Development: Develop predictive models to address specific research questions, such as assessing interactions between seabird populations and external factors (e.g., fishing activities, environmental variables).

Model Validation and Refinement: Continuously validate, test, and refine models to improve their accuracy, reliability, and performance.

Data Visualization: Create clear, impactful visual representations of data (e.g., charts, graphs, dashboards) to effectively communicate findings to diverse stakeholders.

Stakeholder Communication: Present findings in a clear, actionable manner to stakeholders, providing insights that inform project decisions and recommendations.

Innovation in Data Analysis: Experiment with innovative approaches to data analysis, testing new methodologies and exploring advanced techniques for model development.

Data Documentation: Ensure that all datasets are thoroughly documented with metadata, detailing how the data was collected and processed.

Data Standardization: Enforce data standards to promote ease of use, interoperability, and compatibility between systems, facilitating collaboration between different users.

Quality Control: Implement robust data quality control processes to guarantee the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of all datasets.

Training and Support: Provide training, guidance, and technical support to team members and students.

Additional Responsibilities: Undertake other tasks as assigned by the Project Coordinator, ensuring alignment with the AMPLIAMAR project's goals and objectives.