The Role

The successful candidate will join the SAMS Marine Mammal Research Team and deliver research, as well as consultancy work relating to marine mammal ecology, bioacoustics and underwater noise assessments, with a focus on monitoring and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and marine industries (e.g., offshore renewables, aquaculture and fisheries).

The candidate will be working for the majority of their time within the ACCLIMATISE project, a project supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). As part of this project, the candidate will collect underwater and in-air passive acoustic, as well as visual data, and apply existing and develop new automated analysis tools to aid species distribution and habitat modelling. This work will support the development of sustainable, long-term monitoring programmes for marine megafauna (e.g., marine mammals and seabirds) and underwater noise in waters around the island of Ireland.

In addition, the successful candidate will spend around a third of their time providing marine environmental consultancy within the SAMS Enterprise team. The post holder will contribute to tender development and delivery, including acoustic data analysis, report writing, and advising on project consenting, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) processes.

The candidate will help the wider SAMS Marine Mammal Research Team secure and deliver projects to progress the team’s capabilities including equipment maintenance, fieldwork and data collection. Finally, and depending on interest, the post holder may also contribute to teaching, for example on the Marine Megafauna Module of SAMS Marine Science BSc degree.

See project details here: http://www.seupb.eu/PEACEPLUS

Our Ideal Candidate

• A PhD related to marine mammals, bioacoustics and/or species distribution modelling is essential.
• Strong background in collection and analysis of long-term passive acoustic (using static, drifting and/or towed hydrophones) data.
• Skills in species distribution and habitat modelling.
• Proficiency in standard programming languages (e.g., R, Python or MATLAB).
• Experience of visual data analysis (photo-ID, focal follow, line-transect surveys) would be valuable.
• Awareness of UK and Scottish marine environmental regulatory processes in relation to MPAs as well as marine industry (e.g., fisheries, marine energy and aquaculture) monitoring and management.

Employee Benefits

Our cohesive and caring community is an ideal environment for forming collaborations and supporting each other to do the work that we really care about. Oban and surrounding areas provide a fantastic base to live and work, and we offer a wide range of employee benefits, support and inclusive culture, making SAMS a great place to work.

We are proud to provide a wide variety of benefits year-round, including: flexible & hybrid working options, purchase of additional annual leave, shopping discounts, Cycle 2 Work scheme, purchases of technology through salary sacrifice, Payroll Giving, Pensions Plus, access to portals to support health and wellbeing, a sabbatical scheme, free car parking with access to electronic charging points as well as access to a number of training & development courses.

How to Apply

We would love to hear from you. If you have queries on the job and would like to talk these through before applying, please email these through, in the first instance, to [contact hidden]

Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to [contact hidden] quoting Job Ref. ‘D10/25.DR’ in the subject heading.

Closing date for application is 2nd November 2025 - Interviews to be held shortly thereafter.

Full details can be found here: PDRA in Marine Mammal Ecology - Job Description | Accessible version