Description: I am seeking a highly motivated individual for a full-time Fisheries Research Specialist position. The primary responsibility will be laboratory work, with occasional fieldwork support. This is a one-year appointment of an annual salary of $30,960.00 (40 hours/week) and includes health and retirement benefits. The Research Specialist’s main duties will involve processing macroinvertebrate samples in a laboratory setting as part of a Brown Trout Salmo trutta diet study and a separate Stable Isotope Analysis project. Additionally, a portion of the position will support fieldwork for a juvenile Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix recruitment study.

The samples to be processed from Brown Trout diet study the Greer’s Ferry Tailwater on the Little Red River, Arkansas include monthly macroinvertebrates samples as well as quarterly gastric lavage samples. Laboratory work includes processing samples by first picking bugs from macrophytes, and from samples collected with a Serber sampler, an Ekman dredge, and drift nets. Items from these sources, as well as gastric lavage samples, will be sorted, identified, counted, and measured under a dissecting microscope. Work will also include processing Knobfin Sculpin Cottus immaculatus samples. Additional lab work will support a Stable Isotope Analysis study on energy flow. A subset of plant and insect samples will be dried, ground with a mortar and pestle, and prepared for analysis at the University of Arkansas Stable Isotope Laboratory (Fayetteville, AR).

The fieldwork required for the Juvenile Silver Carp study involves sampling backwaters of the Arkansas and White rivers. This involves the use of mini-fyke nets, centipede nets as well as seine hauls. The workday is long and often in extreme heat.

Required Qualifications: Proof of current CPR/First Aid certification (or ability to receive both prior to employment), completion of a boater’s education course, and a valid driver’s license with good record. The applicant must also be able to lift 40 lbs. and can withstand inclement weather conditions including humid temperatures above 90 F and close to freezing temperatures. The applicant must be willing to work 40 hours per week in a laboratory setting.

Desired Qualifications: These include a B.S. degree in Fisheries Science, Biology, or related field; experience driving field trucks and macroinvertebrate identification is preferred.