Position: Faculty member
Organization:
Beam Reach Marine Science and Sustainability School ?
http://beamreach.org
Location: San Juan Island,
WA
Date posted: September 24,
2010
Application deadline:
October 08, 2010, 5pm PDT
To apply: send cover
letter, CV, two letters of reference, and a teaching portfolio, all
in digital format to Scott Veirs,
Description of position:
As a Beam Reach faculty
member, you'll get to split your time between instructing
under/graduates and conducting your own research. If you'd like to
blend innovative teaching of marine science and sustainability with
field research on southern resident killer whales, it doesn't get any
better than this.
Being
a Beam Reach instructor is your chance to co-teach an established
under/graduate marine science curriculum (
http://beamreach.org/curric
) with leeway to pursue your own interests and your students'
curiosities. Our 10-week programs in the spring and fall allow you
to guide classes of 5-12 students though a bioacoustic exploration
of Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKWs) and their environment,
spending about half your time on land and half at sea. You'll enjoy
residing in the San Juan Islands, teaching at the University of
Washington's Friday Harbor Labs (FHL), and conducting research with
your students aboard our 42' sailing research catamaran during
week-long cruises. Occasionally, additional teaching engagements
occur in the summer, like participation in the graduate-level
bioacoustics course at FHL coordinated by Chuck Greene.
During the summer and
winter, Beam Reach provides you with the resources to implement your
own research program. During the summer months when killer whales
inhabit the Salish Sea, you'll have access to Beam Reach
instrumentation deployed at Lime Kiln State Park (the best land-based
killer whale observing in the world) through a collaborative project
with The Whale Museum, as well as our at-sea equipment and archived
data from the spring and fall programs. While your funding outside
of the 10-week programs will depend on your grant-writing success,
Beam Reach will assist you year-round: preparing proposals under our
non-profit status; grant budgeting, expense tracking, invoicing, and
payroll support; providing Foundation and Government grant contacts;
maintaining access to University of Washington libraries; and
inclusion in relevant permits and existing research contracts like
the Northeast Pacific Hydrophone Network ( http://orcasound.net
) funded by NOAA, WDFW, and others. We also anticipate your
involvement in and instigation of new collaborative research efforts
(most immediately related to renewable marine power prospecting) with
our partners, including The Whale Museum, Orca Network, the Center
for Whale Research, Sea Mammal Research Unit Ltd., as well as other
hydrophone network members.
While the interplay of
your students' research projects and your own research and teaching
can be surprisingly synergistic, an additional career benefit of
teaching with Beam Reach arises from our practice of marine
sustainability science ? helping to solve the environmental
problems that most researchers would just study. This attention to
applied research and technology, along with class focus on the
interaction of science and policy, means that you will rapidly be
immersed in the community of researchers, stewards, and business
people working on the recovery of the SRKW population. Whether
through arranging guest lecturers or attending public comment
meetings, you will network with many experts and leaders in the
field: employees of the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center or
the Northwest Regional Office, members of the National Marine Mammal
Laboratory, and leaders of the diverse non-profit organizations
involved in the recovery of both the SRKWs and Puget Sound. Our
current primary instructor, Jason Wood, illustrates the career
benefit of working for Beam Reach: in just four years of teaching
with Beam Reach, he went from specializing in African elephant
bioacoustics to presenting at International conferences on his work
with SRKWs to a full-time job working on marine mammal impact
assessment contracts.
The fundamental reason to
work with Beam Reach is to affect the lives of your students. Before
you apply you should read through our student blog posts (like this
recent one -- http://www.beamreach.org/2010/09/16/day-3 ) and be sure that teaching with Beam Reach is for you. The 10-week
program is an intense, but rewarding one. As you consider applying,
remember that you'll be joining an experienced team of teachers who
are deeply committed to our students and alumni, and who will be
ready to help you improve as an educator: Val Veirs, Scott Veirs, and
Jason Wood (who will continue to reside on-Island and assist with
Beam Reach).
Responsibilities:
-- coordinate with other
faculty to teach science, sustainability, and sailing in accordance
with the Beam Reach curriculum and policies (see
the Beam Reach Student Field Guide ?
http://beamreach.org/guide.pdf
);
-- mentor students and
help assess their progress in attaining
learning outcomes (see curriculum description);
-- guide the safe
operation and maintenance of scientific equipment and sustainable
technology;
-- work with students,
guests, and captains to achieve their respective educational,
scientific, and safety goals.
Qualifications:
Required
-- PhD or Masters in
science relevant to bioacoustic exploration of killer whales and
their environment;
-- at least 2 years
effective teaching and advising of under/graduate science students;
-- leadership role in
at least two successful field research projects;
-- quantitative skills
to teach and study marine bioacoustics;
-- interpersonal skills
to counsel students and manage small-group dynamics;
-- strong environmental
ethic and active contributions to sustainability.
Preferred -- specialization in
bioacoustics of marine mammals, ideally killer whales or other
cetaceans; -- sailing and other
boat-based experiences;
-- expertise in marine
environmental issues of the Northeast Pacific: specifically the
Pacific Northwest, West Coast, Baja, and/or Hawaii.
-- U.S. citizen, but
International candidates will be considered (and hired through an
H-1B visa).
Compensation:
--Spring and fall:
$10k-15k per 10-week program, based on experience
-- Winter and summer:
Logistical support for acquiring and managing your own research
grants (5% overhead rate)
Background:
Beam Reach ( http://beamreach.org ) is marine
science and sustainability school that has educated under/graduates
about the oceans and conducted research on the endangered southern
resident killer whales since fall, 2005. Our 10-week off-campus
study programs offer intensive field-based experiences in marine
conservation science. Students of all majors begin ashore at the
Friday Harbor Laboratories with academic coursework in marine
science, then plan and conduct their own research, including data
collection during 4-5 weeks aboard our research catamaran (powered
by a biodiesel-electric system that enables silent towing of
hydrophone arrays). Successful students earn 18 quarter credits from
the University of Washington. |