job opportunities

Outreach Coordinator – Position Description

Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network

 

Position Type:  Full time, grant-funded position. This is a one-year grant funded position with the possibility of continuation contingent upon funding. 

 

Location:  The position will be primarily based in Charleston, SC, some of the time will be spent at the NOAA National Ocean Service’s Hollings Marine Laboratory (NOS/HML), in the Coastal Marine Mammal Assessment Program. Some of the time will be spent at various locations around Charleston.

 

Reporting:  The position will report to Lauren Rust, executive director of the Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network (LMMN): P.I. of proposed project. Mr. Wayne McFee will help to coordinate on-site activities at NOS/HML.

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

 

1. Lead educational and public outreach efforts through formal and informal presentations to the public, students, researchers, and/or websites/publications 

   1. Outgoing, friendly and social

   2. Comfortable with public speaking to a variety of audiences (youth to adults)

   3. Good understanding of marine mammal biology and science

   4. Seek out and coordinate events with businesses and other groups

2. Assist with the retrieval of dead stranded marine mammals, the collection of Level A data, performance of necropsies either in the field or in the lab, and the disposal of the carcass.

   1. Be on-call one-two weekends/month to respond to stranded marine mammals

   2. Receive calls, coordinate response with partners and volunteers

   3. Assist with necropsies on deceased marine mammals

   4. Assist with sample collection, archiving samples, tracking of sample placement, and shipping samples to researchers

   5. Writing necropsy reports

   6. Coordinating volunteers

3. Assist with boat-based surveys

   1. First mate on boat surveys

   2. Assist with data collection

   3. Maintenance of boat and gear

   4. Comfortable in the sun and on boat for long survey days

4. Assist in the preparation and archiving of marine mammal tissues and skeletal materials

   1. Cleaning bones of tissue

   2. Cleaning bones using a multi-step process

   3. Measure skulls

   4. Organize and track storage locations

5. Assist with research efforts involving tissues or data from South Carolina marine mammal strandings

   1. Coordinate and manage samples to collect from carcasses for outside researchers

   2. Collect the samples, coordinate with researchers, and ship to researchers

6. Data entry

   1. Detail oriented data collection

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Minimum Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in marine or biological sciences or a related field from an accredited institution

• Able to be on call and work some weekends, holidays, and odd hours, in addition to weekdays to respond to marine mammal strandings

• Able to work in physically demanding settings and in adverse weather conditions (heat, boat, marsh), able to lift 50 lbs

• Good oral and written communication skills

• Computer skills (word processing, Excel, PowerPoint, data entry for databases)

• Valid driver’s license- comfortable driving large trucks

• Knowledge of small boat operation or willingness to learn

• Comfort on a small vessel for long survey days

• Comfort cutting and subsampling dead carcasses (comfort with tissues, smells, and blood)

• Experience with line transect surveys (boat based)

• Experience with photo-identification of small cetaceans

• Knowledge of life history methods and marine mammal anatomy, necropsy experience, and experience with the SC marine mammal stranding network are preferred

Email Lauren@lmmn.org with a resume, 3 references and a cover letter by February 7th, 2025