Aquatic Animal Health Researcher

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Job description

Job Title: Aquatic Animal Health Researcher
Location: Manchester, WA
Clearance Required: Public Trust Eligible

Description
Within the NOAA NWFSC, the Environmental Fisheries and Sciences Division focuses on science to support recovery of ESA listed salmon and steelhead stocks; development of sustainable marine aquaculture for both finfish and shellfish; monitoring and forecasting harmful algal blooms that impact marine mammals, fisheries, and fishing communities; monitoring environmental contaminants and understanding their impacts to protected resources and fisheries; and reform of salmon and steelhead hatcheries to support commercial harvest and species recovery.

The EFS Division conducts research in the areas of aquatic animal health and disease to assess the impact of diseases on both important cultured and wild species. These areas of research are important to the Center's research programs with finfish and shellfish aquaculture and also assist in characterizing disease interactions between and among both wild and cultured species.

Disease of aquatic species can severely impact the health of both cultured and wild aquatic species at various life stages. Understanding disease dynamics requires knowledge of the epidemiological triad that consists of the host (fish/shellfish), the environment of the host and the disease causing pathogen that the host may contact. Aquatic animal health management requires knowledge of host immunology,
molecular and microbiology, and how the environment interacts with pathogens and hosts to influence disease outbreaks.

This position is ideal for a recent graduate or post doc to transition into the federal research space, Work is on-site, and not remote.

Key Responsibilities:
The contractor shall conduct research in the areas of aquaculture and aquatic animal health and disease and manage laboratory activities associated with a fish health and immunology laboratory. This will include assessment of the impact of diseases on both important cultured and wild fish and shellfish species. The contractor will specifically perform vaccine and immunology research, diagnose and characterize disease agents, culture bacterial, viral, and parasitic fish/shellfish organisms, and utilize a range of molecular and microbiological assays to address important research questions.

These areas of research are important to the Center's research programs with finfish and shellfish aquaculture as well as characterizing disease interactions between and among both wild and cultured species. The Contractor shall provide the following services throughout the period of performance and complete the following projects and deliver them to the NMFS according to the delivery schedules below.

Key tasks include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

Laboratory management and organization

• The contractor shall assist in set up, maintenance, and daily organization of a laboratory and be expected to operate specific equipment (e.g. qPCR, PCR cyclers, biosafety hoods, incubators, centrifuges, etc.)
• The contractor shall keep the lab appropriately stocked with general supplies, maintain laboratory equipment in proper working order, maintain safe chemical hygiene practices, assist property manager with laboratory inventory, adhere to laboratory safety practices, ready hazardous waste for disposal, label chemicals, and provide general lab training to personnel as needed.

Fish disease challenge and host immune response analysis

• The contractor shall participate in disease challenge studies and in determining and analyzing disease challenge studies of fish, which includes culturing pathogens of fish/shellfish, characterizing the pathogen using a variety of techniques (e.g. PCR/qPCR, ELISA, and eDNA techniques), assessing host immune response using molecular and standard assays, and properly storing frozen bacterial or viral stocks for later experiments.
• The contractor shall expose fish/shellfish to aquatic pathogens, collect samples by necropsy, and record data.
• The contractor shall monitor mortalities over time. Autoclave waste at the end of experiments.
• Contractor shall be proficient in all aspects of molecular and immunological methods, laboratory disease challenges, and techniques such as SDS PAGE, Western blotting, 2 D PAGE, histology, ELISA, qPCR, etc.

Determine the degree of phenotypic variation in host response

• The contractor shall optimize methods for determining the degree of phenotypic variation in host responses to various pathogens and environmental influences. Optimizing methods may include determining and obtaining an appropriate pathogen, determining the appropriate concentration of the pathogen, determining optimal water temperature for optimal mortality. Environmental influences examined may include contaminants, ocean acidification, temperature, and predators.

Fish husbandry of both finfish and shellfish

• The contractor shall work with the aquaculture team and periodically assist with husbandry for both finfish and shellfish as needed. This may include raising artemia and rotifers, cleaning tanks, feeding fish, and measuring water quality parameters necessary to produce healthy finfish and shellfish for performing experiments.

Required Skills /Education/ Certifications & Qualifications:

• Master's degree, or higher, from an accredited college or university with a major directly related in a field of study as related to the requirements of specific task order outlined below with emphasis in fisheries.
• Experience in working with pathogens that affect aquatic species.
• Experience in fish husbandry practices of aquatic species, and knowledge of water quality issues and diseases that affect aquatic animal health.
• Experience in applying microbiological and molecular techniques to research questions on fish health.
• 5 years or more experience working in a laboratory setting.

About IBSS Corp.

Since 1992, IBSS, a woman-owned small business, has provided transformational consulting services to the Federal defense, civilian, and commercial sectors. Our services include cybersecurity and enterprise information technology, environmental science and engineering (including oceans, coasts, climate, and weather), and professional management services.

Our approach is to serve our employees by investing in their growth and development. As a result, our employees bring greater capabilities and provide an exceptional level of service to our clients. In addition to creating career development opportunities for our employees, IBSS is passionate about giving back to the community and serving the environment. We strive to leave something better behind for the next generation.

We measure our success by the positive impact we have on our employees, clients, partners, and the communities we serve. Our tagline, Powered by Excellence, is a recognition of the employees that make up IBSS and ensures we deliver results with quality, applying industry best practices and certifications.

IBSS offers a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage with company-paid deductible, paid time off, federal holidays, matching 401K plan, tuition/professional development reimbursement, and Flex-Spending (FSA)/Dependent Care Account (DCA) options.

IBSS is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. Click to see that the EEO is the law.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to the HR Department, at

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