Project Engineer for the Management of Migratory-Fish Databases

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INRAE presentation

The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.

Work environment, missions and activities

You will be welcomed into the FREEMA research team (Functioning and Restoration of Estuarine Ecosystems and Diadromous Migratory Fish) within the EABX unit (Aquatic Ecosystems and Global Change). The mission will be carried out within the framework of the DEBBARRAGE research project, funded by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, through its ambitious regional scientific program on water resources (PSGAR ROSEAU).

DEBBARRAGE investigates the cumulative impact of man-made obstacles along waterways on the metabolism and life cycle of diadromous fishes (fish species that move between sea- and freshwater). Dams, locks, weirs and pipes, by modifying the hydraulic functioning of waterways, affect the energy expenditure of migratory fish, their survival as well as the duration of their migration.

The project plans to use the numerous extensive telemetry data collected in recent years by various research and monitoring programs to estimate the effects of these obstacles at the scale of the individual fish.

Your main task will be to build and manage databases related to the migration and telemetry in waterways and their telemetry tracking.

More specifically, you will be in charge of:

• Maintaining an existing database relating environmental parameters (hydraulics, temperature, etc.) to life cycle parameters of the main diadromous fish species (the FM⁵ database).
• Drafting a detailed data management plan for the databases, fully compliant with the FAIR principles.
• Designing a novel database completing the FM⁵ database, dedicated to data collected from various telemetry monitoring programs on migratory fish.
•  Managing the telemetry database by harmonizing differing datasets and documenting the associated metadata.
• Contributing to the analysis of migratory fish movement by defining indicator and response variables, and conducting appropriate statistical analyses meant to understand the effects of data capture conditions on migratory behaviours.
• Participating in the drafting of scientific articles aimed at communicating the data and/or results arising from database analyses.

Training and skills

Recommended qualifications: Bachelor's degree or equivalent (minimum requirement), with a specialization in database management or alternatively, significant practical experience in this field.

Expected skills: SQL and R programming languages, biostatistics (in particular: parameter estimation with methods such as model averaging or Bayesian approaches). 

Genuine interest in movement ecology, telemetry (technologies, protocols, applications), and/or fish ecology.

Other desired skills: some degree of fluency in French, familiarity with online form management tools (ODK suite), project management experience, and the ability to interact effectively with a wide range of actors in the field of database management.

INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):

- up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering ;

-of a partial subsidy for home/work subscription (TER, TBM).

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter