Research Associate: Marine Ecology & Conservation (Fixed Term)

Overview

A Research Associate post is available in the Marine Ecology and Conservation Group, led by Dr Catharine Horswill, in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. Catharine is a quantitative marine ecologist with expertise in population modelling, demography and the application of ecological evidence to conservation and management.

Reliable stock assessments are essential for the sustainable management of tropical tuna fisheries worldwide. In representing complex population and fishery dynamics, assessment models rely on simplifying assumptions about biological processes, spatial structure and fisheries data. Understanding how these assumptions affect model performance and management advice is critical for identifying key sources of uncertainty and determining where methodological advances or improvements in fisheries data could most effectively strengthen future assessments.

The project will develop and apply high-resolution, simulation-based approaches to evaluate how assumptions about population biology and fisheries data influence stock assessment performance and management advice. The project will initially focus on Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna, with subsequent application to bigeye and skipjack tuna where appropriate.

The position is funded by the Sustainable Fisheries and Communities Trust (https://sfact.org/). The funds for this post are available for up to 24 months.

For informal enquiries about the role, please contact Dr Catharine Horswill [email: ch738@cam.ac.uk]. For any queries regarding the application process, please contact the Zoology HR Office [email: hr@zoo.cam.ac.uk].