Posted as a courtesy only. Please do not contact me about this position–Dida

Reef Check is searching for a Central Coast Regional Manager for Reef Check’s California program. After working for 8 years, growing the program and building up the volunteer community in the central coast, our long-term Regional Manager, Megan Wehrenberg, is leaving Reef Check in the fall to sail around the world. Reef Check is looking for someone to join the team and to continue her great work and make their own contributions.

The ideal candidate will have detailed knowledge of the coastal rocky reef ecosystem in California, good taxonomic skills, the ability to communicate clearly and effectively with recreational divers and academic researchers. We are looking for someone with experience as a dive leader – certification as Instructor and experience in the Reef Check monitoring protocol will be an advantage. We require someone who is an outstanding leader and able to inspire volunteers and at the same time has the required background in marine ecology. The candidate must be organized, capable of working independently and have excellent oral and written communication skills.

See the job announcement here.

Posted as a courtesy only. Please do not contact me about this project.—Dida
Okay, so how many giant sea bass are there in southern California?
What It Is
Giant sea bass (we still like to call them black sea bass), Stereolepis gigas, were almost fished out nearly 50 years ago in southern California. While they are now starting to make a comeback, we don’t know how many of them there are in southern California. The Great Giant Sea Bass Count is one way to estimate the minimum number of these fish in our waters and is an important part of a joint research project between researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara and California State University, Northridge to learn more about giant sea bass populations.
When It Takes Place
1– 7 August.
What to Do
1) Dive any location in southern California – reefs, oil platforms, shipwrecks, breakwaters, submarine canyons, sand flats, islands, mainland, shallow water, deep water – we don’t care.
2) Each dive can be for as long as you want – there is no minimum or maximum time.
3) On each dive avoid covering the same sea floor twice – so you don’t count the same fish twice.
4) For every dive record the following:
A) Date and start time
B) Location: include latitude and longitude of your dive site—this is important data; if you can’t provide this, the name of the dive site and/or your bearing from a distinct coastal landmark will be useful.
C. The number of giant sea bass and each fish’s length.
C) Bottom depth.
D) Habitat type:
a. All or mostly rocks or other hard material or all or mostly sand
or mud.
b. Lots, some, or no vegetation (kelp, sea grass etc.).
5) IMPORTANT: If you don’t see any giant sea bass that is okay, please let us know that. Zeros are important information for science.
6) Register for the count and learn more by liking our Giant Sea Bass Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/giantseabass.

Specific Questions Regarding the Survey?
Query Milton Love: love@lifesci.ucsb.edu
Some Information About Giant Sea Bass
Love, M. Certainly More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the
Pacific Coast. Really Big Press.

How to Report
Send your findings to Milton Love: giantseabasscount@gmail.com

or snailmail to:
Milton Love, Marine Science Institute, University of
California, Santa Barbara,
CA 93106.

Posted as a courtesy only. Please do not contact me about these opportunities. Good luck! — Dida

The Kevin Gurr Scholarship awards $3000 to a Master program student.

The Kathy Johnston Scholarship awards $3000 to a Ph.D. candidate.

The AAUS may also award two additional $1500 scholarships to the next two proposals that are ranked the highest. If the additional scholarships are awarded, they may be split between the Master program and the Ph.D. program, or they may be both awarded within a single program.

Proposal deadline is June 30.
Scholarship winners are announced October 1.

Hollis Gear Award Hollis  Gear  has  graciously  offered  to  fund  a  new  scholarship  program  for  AAUS  student members engaged in, or planning to begin, a research project in which diving is or will be used as a principal research tool or study scientific diving.   Hollis will provide up to two awards annually valued  at  $1250  per  recipient  ($1000  in  Hollis  diving  equipment  plus  $250  to  cover  training  or academic diving travel costs).

Proposal deadline is June 30.
Scholarship winners are announced October 1.

Applicant Requirements for Research and Gear Awards:

• Be a current member of AAUS (student or full member).
• Be accepted and enrolled in a Masters program (for the Masters Program award) or a Ph.D. program (for the Ph.D. program award).
• Submit online application form and a proposal of 3 to 5 pages describing the research methods, significance of the research, and a budget (if part of a larger budget, specify how AAUS funds will be spent).
• Agree to write an article for the E-Slate, a news publication of AAUS, describing the proposed research.
• Present the results of their research at an AAUS symposium or other scientific meeting within one year of the projects completion.
• A letter of support from a faculty advisor must be submitted electronically.
• Proposal deadline – June 30
• Recipient announced October 1
• Click here for online application

Kevin Flanagan Student Travel Award provides up to $800 to undergraduate and/or graduate students interested in diving science to attend AAUS scientific meetings. The award is competitive merit-based. As many as three students may be funded annually.

The Kevin Flanagan award was established in collaboration with Kevin’s family as a legacy to his commitment to AAUS and scientific diving. Kevin served as AAUS board member (2009-2011) and diving safety officer at the University of Hawaii and East Carolina University prior to his death in May 2012. Our goal is to develop this as the first endowed award of the AAUS Foundation, permanently funded through interest earned on the raised capital.

Kevin Flanagan Award Applicant Requirements:

• You may apply for this award in addition to the research and gear awards or independently.
• Be a current member of AAUS (student or full member).
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student.
• Submit electronically a proposal letter describing the professional benefits to be derived from attending an AAUS meeting and a budget for travel expenses requested from AAUS.
• A letter of support from a faculty advisor must be submitted electronically.
• There is no online application form.  Submit all documentation electronically to aausfoundation@gmail.com
• Proposal deadline is June 30.
• Scholarship winners are announced August 1.