I. Beca Doctorado: Understanding the 3D links between forage fish and top predators to advance ecosystem-based monitoring.

 Description: 

The following PhD proposal will focus in understanding the links between forage fish and top predators to advance ecosystem-based monitoring in the Bay of Biscay. This PhD will be divided in four different chapters:

Chapter 1. Applying machine learning algorithms to identify small pelagic fish schools. 
Chapter 2. 3D characterisation of pelagic fish schools in temperate pelagic ecosystems.  
Charper 3. 3D connectionn between forage fish and top predators.  
Chapter 4. Are forage fish schools driving the spatial abundance patterns of top predators?  

In order to advance conservation and management efforts, the European Union has adopted the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, Directive 2008/56/EC) with the objective of achieving or maintaining Good Environmental Status (GES) of European waters by 2020. In order to help Member States assess and achieve GES in their waters, the European Commission has provided descriptors, criteria and methodological standards (2008/56/EC, COM Dec; 2010/477/EU). The JUVENA (and potentially BIOMAN) multidisciplinary survey series will constitute the main data sources for the project. The main objective of both projects is to characterise the functioning of the pelagic ecosystem in the Bay of Biscay, using multidisciplinary tools that allow information on the spatial distribution and abundance of phytoplankton, zooplankton, small pelagic fishes and marine top predators, as well as different oceanographic variables important for the characterising the pelagic realm to be collected simultaneously.

Requisitos específicos: 

Titulación y Especialidad: Licenciatura en Ciencias del Mar, Biología, C.C. Ambientales, Geografía, Matemáticas, Física o

 Nota media superior a 5.

Idiomas: alto nivel de inglés.

Estar empadronada en un municipio de la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco en el momento de la solicitud y, al menos, desde el 1 de enero de 2019. Para más detalles específicos consultar las bases de la convocatoria: http://www.euskadi.eus/gobierno-vasco/-/ayuda_subvencion/2019/predoc-berri/

Para más información, puedes contactar directamente con: 

Maite Louzao: mlouzao@azti.es
Guillermo Boyra: gboyra@azti.es 

II. Beca Doctorado: New approaches for the monitoring and forecast of marine litter windrows in the coastal area.

Description: 

The main aim of this PhD project will be to make a step forward in disentangling the physical drivers that modulate and condition the accumulation and evolution of the litter windrots in the coastal area of the SE Bay of Biscay, and to assess the methodologies that can help us to monitor and predict their distribution.

Methods:

To that end different observing approach for the monitoring and forecast of the surface coastal currents will be assessed and combined:

- Routine in-situ observation of litter windrows density, composition and characteristics in the SE Bay of Biscay thanks to the ongoing FML collection campaigns (LIFE LEMA project)

- HF radar

- X - band radar

- Satellite observations

- High resolution numerical models

- Advanced Lagrangian techniques

Related projects:

JERICO-NEXT (http://www.jerico-ri.eu/), LIFE LEMA(www.lifelema.eu), MyCOAST (http://mycoast-project.org/), FML-TRACK (CMEMS User Uptake)

Foreseen collaborations: Matthias Delpey (RPT-Suez), Jochen Horstman (HZG), Alejandro Orfila Foster (CSIC)

Requisitos:

Para ello se busca un perfil que cumpla con los siguientes requisitos:

Titulación y Especialidad: Ingeniería Telecomunicaciones, Ingeniería Caminos Canales y Puertos, Física, Licenciatura en Ciencias del Mar, Matemáticas o similar.
Nota media superior a 7.5.
Idiomas: alto nivel de inglés.
Estar empadronada en un municipio de la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco en el momento de la solicitud y, al menos, desde el 1 de enero de 2019. Para más detalles específicos consultar las bases de la convocatoria:

http://www.euskadi.eus/gobierno-vasco/-/ayuda_subvencion/2019/predoc-berri/ 

Para más información y dirección de envío de documentación: 

Anna Rubio: arubio@azti.es
Oihane Cabezas: ocabezas@azti.es