Use Your Math Education, Count Fish!

Earn Big Bucks, Count Fish

Ok, maybe not BIG bucks, but it seems they need more people in the fisheries and wildlife areas to count things, and they are looking for mathematicians who can fill the bill. From an article on "Counting Fish," by Karen Kaplan. Nature, 16 October 2008.

"The Fisheries Service of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is looking for a few good fish counters." So beings this brief article in the Career View section of Nature. Scientists with a background in mathematics, computer science, and/or conservation are needed---and are in short supply---to fulfill positions as "stock-assessment scientists." Reports say that U.S. institutions will graduate only 160 such scientists to fill at least 340 positions. Stock assessment scientists "gather data on species populations, on the basis of catches and aerial surveys. The data inform mathematical models that help design monitoring programs and predict populations under different managemant scenarios. This in turn helps regulators to set quotas." One such scientist, Larry Alade, says "he's now in a job he loves---contributing to sustainability."