The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) seeks to invest in data synthesis efforts to understand potential species impacts caused by ocean acidification (OA). Postdocs may engage in any or several of the following concepts: Quantify changes in physiological, developmental, and genetic processes in marine calcifying and non-calcifying  organisms, including all relevant life history stages, caused by ocean acidification and its interaction with other stressors. Data synthesis efforts can also seek to understand potential species impacts by OA in conjunction with other climate related stressors. Explore the potential for acclimation and adaptation as a means to extrapolate from the responses of individuals (from a species) to long-term ecosystem-scale impacts in the context of a changing ocean. Incorporate findings on individual species’ responses into stock assessment and other fishery resource models. Improve ecosystem model parameterization by synthesizing chemical observations with species-specific ocean acidification sensitivity data and response curves. Efforts should make significant use of repositories of NOAA funded and sponsored data.

Project background: The NOAA OAP supports experimental work at the NOAA Fisheries Science Centers and NOAA laboratories focused on ecologically or commercially important marine species with likely sensitivity to OA with priority emphasis on economically significant calcareous species (crabs, mollusks, corals), commercially important fish species that NOAA manages, and species that are key trophic links for fisheries and protected species. The information gained from these experimental research is used to help determine acclimation capacity associated with OA under multi-stressor conditions and to develop improved population and ecosystem models that better inform bioeconomic modeling and assessments of Blue Economy vulnerability. The postdoc will conduct a synthesis of NOAA funded experimental and monitoring work, within and beyond NOAA OAP, to address one or more of the areas of inquiry outlined above at a national scale.

key words

ocean acidification, data synthesis, ecosystem sensitivity, species sensitivity, adaptive capacity, multi-stressor

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and non-U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants