PDRA in Active Acoustic Monitoring of Offshore Wind Ecosystem Effects
Location: SAMS, Oban
Contract Type: Fixed Term : 28 Months
Working Pattern: Full Time
Salary : £32,546 - £38,249 per annum
Closing date: Monday 3 August 2026
The Role :
The position offers an exciting opportunity to integrate multi-modal active acoustic observations with physical oceanographic datasets to help maximise the benefits of future offshore wind, while minimising potential for detrimental ecosystem impacts.
The EQUIFy project is developing a transferable monitoring and evidence framework to quantify offshore wind ecological impacts to support and accelerate decision making. Decision support tools will guide key policy areas, marine planning and help simplify and thus accelerate the licensing and consenting process, supporting the delivery of the UK’s energy and decarbonisation ambitions in a manner that optimises nature recovery, marine net gain and coexistence with other users.
We are using active acoustic (multi-frequency scientific echosounder) measurements to investigate ecosystem effects of offshore renewables, through quantification of prey (pelagic fish) availability to top predators (seabirds and marine mammals) alongside passive acoustic and oceanographic measurements. The candidate will develop workflows to integrate these datasets, quantifying the mechanisms driving elevated fish densities around offshore wind, the effects of wind and tide wakes, and differences between fixed and floating offshore wind to reveal the dynamic interactions between predators, prey and offshore renewables.
The candidate will lead analysis of existing datasets alongside opportunities for new data collection campaigns from distributed multi-sensor seabed landers and ship-based surveys to build a spatio-temporal understanding of how pelagic fish (prey) availability changes around offshore wind infrastructure. Ship surveys ‘downstream’ of windfarms can quantify spatial gradients and wake effects, while autonomous multi-sensor seabed landers provide temporal persistence to quantify predictability over tidal and diel cycles.
The role will interact with collaborators across the EQUIFy project, from oceanography through to social science and ecosystem modelling, to develop a robust, transferable framework to quantify and understand ecosystem change across the full lifecycle of offshore wind developments, and how these impacts interact with other pressures such as fishing, shipping, and climate change. There are opportunities to design and lead future field campaigns, publish in high-impact journals, mentor undergraduate and postgraduate students, and contribute to wider projects and proposals to expand the portfolio of related research into novel marine sensing and offshore renewables.
Our Ideal Candidate
The candidate will lead processing of echosounder datasets, including school detection, quantifying scattering layers, echometrics, fish tracking and single-echo detection, and have experience in data analysis and statistics. Experience with predictive modelling is an advantage for interpretation of results and design of future large-scale distributed and coordinated monitoring campaigns.
The candidate will have a PhD (or equivalent) in relevant subject (marine or environmental science, acoustics, quantitative ecology, engineering, physics, applied mathematics, oceanography etc.) and research experience to support publishing and disseminating results. An interest in oceanographic and ecosystem effects of large-scale marine anthropogenic structures and predator-prey interactions is beneficial, and experience processing oceanographic and ADCP/CTD data is an advantage.
There are opportunities for new data collection. Experience with echosounder survey design, equipment preparation, data collection and calibration, particularly with moored echosounders is beneficial. A proactive approach to health and safety is essential, along with the ability to contribute to a positive safety culture. Excellent communication skills and attention to detail are also key, ensuring effective collaboration across projects and with external partners.
Employee Benefits
Our relatively small, caring community is an ideal environment for making friends, 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.
Our employees are the heart of our business. Recruiting and retaining the right people is the key to our success. Rewarding our employees is therefore an important component of our employment package and we have a wide range of benefits on offer to staff to support your work and lifestyle.
We are proud to provide a wide variety of benefits year-round, offering options to best support our staff, such as: 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.
Additionally, SAMS encourages and recognises excellence among staff through various recognition and reward arrangements. We are striving to constantly develop and expand the benefits and offers for our colleagues.
Interested?
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 people@sams.ac.uk
Applications must include CV and Cover Letter and should be sent electronically to recruitment@sams.ac.uk quoting Job Ref. ‘D12/26.BW ’ in the subject heading.
Please note, this position unfortunately does not meet the minimum requirements for sponsorship to work in the UK. You must therefore have the rights in place to work in the UK already.
Closing date for application is Monday 3 August 2026 - Interviews to be held w/c 10 August 2026.
Full details can be found here:
Job Description-PDRA Active Acoustic Monitoring.pdf
PDRA Active Acoustics - Job Description - Accessible Format.pdf
Please find further information below on how we can help you apply:
We are a Disability Confident Employer. Where a candidate requires reasonable adjustments as part of the application process, we encourage you to let us know. Where applicants with a disability meet the essential criteria for the job, you will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your skills, talent and abilities at interview.
SAMS’ commitment to gender equality has been recognised, as our institute was presented with an Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) Bronze Award and is currently working towards Investors in Diversity accreditation.
SAMS follows Fair Work Practices.
SAMS Group is committed to being an equal and open organisation. Diversity and inclusion are important to us, and we strive to remove any barriers that may prevent people from applying to join us. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, and from all who share our values and can help us to broaden our knowledge and range of ideas.
