Research Assistant – MarPAMM

Project Title: The Marine Protected Area Management and Monitoring (MarPAMM) 
 
Post Duration: 5 months
 
Salary: €27,380 – €36,786 p.a. (IUA Salary Scale)
 
Candidates should apply, in confidence, before 12 noon (Irish Local Time) on Friday, 8 April 2022. No late applications will be accepted.

The Marine Protected Area Management and Monitoring (MarPAMM) 

The Marine Protected Area Management and Monitoring (MarPAMM) project has been developing models and management plans for protected habitats and species across the regional seas of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland since 2018. The project finishes in Sept 2022. The €6m project is funded under the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, brings together the knowledge and expertise of 7 organisations – the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI) (the lead partner), Marine Scotland Science (MSS), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), BirdWatch Ireland (BWI), the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Ulster University (UU) and University College Cork (UCC).

Research Assistant Role

The research position is focussed on the bioacoustic detection of pinnipeds underwater. Broadband acoustic devices have been deployed across a number of sites in the waters off Northern Ireland, Ireland and western Scotland, as part of ambient noise monitoring within the MarPAMM project. A parallel work stream within this project has been investigating at sea seal usage through acoustic telemetry, and identified areas of high usage that overlap with a number of acoustic monitoring stations. To maximize the benefit of the acoustic monitoring work stream, the project team would like to further investigate the acoustic data that has been gathered, identifying acoustic detection events of grey seals and harbour seals across the array.
 
The post holder will be responsible for the detection, classification and measurement of seal vocalisations within the dataset, assisting with the statistical analysis of temporal and spatial patterns in seal acoustic presence, as well as assisting with final reporting and project dissemination. This role will facilitate a synergistic approach to data analysis across a number of collaborating institutes (UCC, AFBI and MSS), attending regular meetings, workshops and training as required. The role is also expected to contribute to Marine Protected Area management plans currently under development within the MarPAMM project.

MaREI

MaREI is a key research centre within UCC’s Environmental Research Institute (ERI), which is an internationally recognised Institute for environmental research dedicated to the understanding and protection of our natural environment and to developing innovative technologies, tools and services to facilitate a transformation to a zero carbon and resource efficient society. The MaREI Centre is an SFI funded research centre headquartered in the ERI and includes 13 other Universities and Third Level Institutes from across Ireland, has 50 industrial partners and has accumulated research funding of approximately €60m. It combines the expertise of a wide range of research groups and industry partners, with the shared mission of solving the main scientific, technical and socio-economic challenges across the climate, energy and marine spaces.  MaREI is also funded by SEAI, EI, EPA, ERDF, EU, HEA, Marine Institute, DCCAE and IRC, as well as through contributions from our industry partners. Researchers in the MaREI Centre have over 30 years of experience in conducting fundamental and applied research supported by competitively won national and international funding, and commercial contracts with government agencies and industry. MaREI’s strengths lie in the multi-disciplinary nature of its research teams, allowing it to combine insights across areas such as MRE Technologies, Materials & Structures, Observations & Operations, Coastal & Marine Systems, Bioenergy, Energy Policy & Modelling and Renewable Energy Management.

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Dr Mark Jessopp, Email: ei.ccu@ppossej.m.  
 
Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to ei.ccu@tnemtiurcer, quoting the job-title and project name.
Feature Project

MarPAMM

MarPAMM aims to develop tools for monitoring and managing a number of protected coastal marine environments in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Western Scotland.

Find out More

Meet the Project Team

All MaREI Team Members
Mark Jessopp