"Research Officer in Marine Environmental History/Marine Historical Ecology (70% FTE)"

Job Number

BU03622

School/Department

School of Ocean Sciences

Grade

7

Salary Information

Salary: £37,099 - £44,263 p.a. pro rata (Grade 7)

Contract Duration

24 months

Responsible to

Project Manager

Closing Date

23-08-2024

Applications are invited for a fixed-term, part-time (70%FTE) Research Officer in Marine Environmental History/Marine Historical Ecology in the School of Ocean Sciences as part of a cross-disciplinary research project integrating history and marine ecology to inform modern-day sustainable fisheries and marine ecosystem management.

Duties will include organising and carrying out a variety of desk-based research, research work with primary historical sources/in archives, fieldwork interviewing fishers and other stakeholders, extracting and synthesising data from a range of historical and biological/environmental sources, data analysis and report writing, organising workshops and stakeholder engagement.

Candidates should be educated to PhD standard (or equivalent) in either history/environmental history or related fields (e.g. archaeology, geography, history of science) OR natural sciences (inc. ecology, marine biology, fisheries) or be near completion.

The successful candidate will be expected to commence on 1st November 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter, and the post is available for a period of 24 month.

This role will be located in the School of Ocean Sciences in Menai Bridge. Through our Dynamic Working framework, there will also be the option to spend some time working remotely (although remaining in the UK) to support work life balance, which will be discussed further with candidates at interview.

Applications will only be accepted via our on-line recruitment website, jobs.bangor.ac.uk. However, in cases of access issues due to disability, paper application forms are available by telephoning 01248 383865.

Closing date for applications: 23 August 2024

Informal enquiries can be made by contacting Dr Alec Moore, Lecturer in Marine Top Predator Conservation, School of Ocean Sciences a.moore@bangor.ac.uk

Committed To Equal Opportunities

Overview

Located on the shores of the beautiful Menai Strait in North Wales, Bangor University’s multidisciplinary School of Ocean Sciences (SOS) is one of the largest university Marine Science departments in Europe. Facilities include a range of teaching and research laboratories, tropical and coldwater aquaria, and vessels ranging from small inshore craft to a state-of-the-art, purpose built 35 metre seagoing research vessel – the Prince Madog.

SOS staff are leaders in their field, conducting research which has global impact to address the world’s challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and unsustainable resource use.

The Project

The successful candidate will be working on the exciting cross-disciplinary UKRI-funded project FisHistory, which brings together historians, marine biologists and historical ecologists. The overall aim of the project is to develop cross-disciplinary capacity and approaches to inform the sustainable management of fisheries and marine ecosystems, as a complement to single-discipline approaches.

The project seeks to integrate three spheres of knowledge: historical records (including naturalists accounts, newspapers, charts, Government reports, estate records), modern-day fishers’ ecological knowledge, and modern scientific data.

Focusing on the herring, a species of fundamental ecological and socio-economic importance, the project will seek to identify critical habitat, characterise population biology (including long-term variations in abundance) and better understand socio-economic linkages, with a focus on waters of England and Wales.

Purpose of the Job

The purpose of the job is to plan, conduct, execute and help deliver cross-disciplinary research outcomes on a marine fish (herring) and their fisheries to better understand their biology and significance to people, relying heavily on historical sources and spatial/GIS data. The role will also include conducting interviews with fishers and other stakeholders; liaising with external and internal partners; and project management.

Under the supervision of the PI/Co-Is the post holder will be responsible for progressing research on a day-to-day basis and be partly responsible for supervising a postgraduate Research Assistant.

To help develop cross-disciplinary capacity the successful candidate will be based in the School of Ocean Sciences on the Menai Bridge campus and will work closely with colleagues in the School of History, Law and Social Sciences on the Bangor main campus. The post holder must have a willingness to work cooperatively and effectively with stakeholders/colleagues from different disciplines outside their own.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Gathering and analysis of data. This will include sourcing, collection, review and extraction of historical records and modern scientific data (inc. online, archive and library sources); planning and conducting interviews; visualisation and analysis of quantitative/spatial data.
• Delivering research outcomes. This will include contributing to publications in the sciences/humanities; project/funder reports; dissemination of research outputs to relevant organisations (inc. industry, government); public engagement.
• Administration of the research project, including data management; participating in/coordinating meetings; organising workshops; building and maintaining stakeholder engagement; social media engagement; planning fieldwork (e.g. fisher interviews, archive visits).
• Day-to-day liaison with the postgraduate research assistant.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• The post holder will be expected to participate in performance review and developmental activities.
• The post holder will be expected to comply with the University’s equality policies and statements, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Scheme.
• The post holder has a general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for themselves and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by their actions or inactions. The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments.
• The post holder must comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their post.

Person Specification

Qualifications/Training

Essential

• PhD (or be close to the completion of/ possess equivalent experience relevant to the role) in either history/related humanities (e.g. environmental history, archaeology, geography); OR sciences (e.g. marine biology/fisheries/ecology/environmental sciences), or be near completion.

Desirable

• Degree-level qualifications in both humanities and science (e.g. undergraduate in history, Master’s in science or vice versa).

Experience/Knowledge

Essential

• Demonstrable understanding of historical ecology/marine historical ecology.
• Experience in the management of large and/or historical datasets (e.g. sourcing, extraction, standardisation, classification, storage, sharing, publication).
• Experience in integrating multiple different data types for visualisation and/or analysis (e.g. physical/biological/human; spatial/temporal; historical/recent; quantitative/qualitative; terrestrial/aquatic; instrument-measured/anecdotal).

Desirable

• Track record of quality peer-reviewed publications.
• Good understanding of the range of primary historical resources available, including online.
• Experience of working with primary historical sources/in archives.
• Experience of working with qualitative, anecdotal and/or questionnaire data.
• Experience of data gathering from people (inc. questionnaire design, performing interviews, obtaining ethical approval, GDPR).
• Experience of cross-disciplinary research (e.g. humanities/science).
• Experience of organising workshops & stakeholder consultation.
• Track record of conference presentations.
• Demonstrable knowledge/experience of one or more of: marine biology/ecology; fisheries; seabed sediments; marine historical ecology; long-term climate variation; marine environmental history; social and economic history of fisheries/marine/natural resource use.

Skills/Abilities

Essential

• GIS/mapping skills.
• Ability to work on own initiative.
• Good verbal and written skills.
• Ability to prioritise workload and work to deadlines.
• Good computer skills, including MS Office, Powerpoint, Excel.
• No specific Welsh language requirement. Candidates will be expected to work positively in a bilingual environment.

Desirable

• Ability to use research library management software.
• Ability to use specialist historical research software (e.g. Transkribus).
• Ability to read historical handwritten texts/palaeography.
• Demonstrate proven project management skills.
• Demonstrate ability to work as part of a team with good interpersonal skills.
• Valid driving licence to enable access to interview fishers etc.

General

The University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We strive to develop a workforce from all sections of the community regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language through our progressive Welsh Language Policy. We comply with the Welsh Language Standards and are committed to equality of opportunity. You are welcome to apply for any job in English or Welsh and all applications submitted will be treated equally. 

We are a member of Advance HE's Athena SWAN Gender Equality charter and hold a Silver award in recognition of our commitment to and progress towards gender equality within the University's policies, practices, and culture. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. 

All members of staff have a duty to ensure their actions are in line with the overall environmental aims of the University and minimise their environmental impact. 

All offers are made subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK and receipt of satisfactory references.  

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that you have the right to work in the UK before you can start working for us. When you apply for this post you will be required to explain the basis upon which you believe you will able to live and work in the UK legally on the commencement date of the role should your application be successful.  If you do not have the right to work freely in any position in the UK already, any offer of employment we will make to you will be subject to you obtaining a right to work visa.  The following link provides information on the various visa routes into employment and the eligibility requirements (including switching visa status where permissible) https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas.  If you are successful in your application we will discuss visa options with you at the time of making the offer of employment.    

Candidates should also note that they may be required to apply for an ATAS certificate (Academic Approval Technology Scheme) from the Counter-Proliferation and Arms Control Centre of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office before being able to apply for a visa - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academic-technology-approval-scheme. 

Please note that, in the event of applications being received from candidates on the University's Redeployment Register with a reasonable skills match to the post specification, these applicants will be given prior consideration.