Innovation & Research Associate - Isla Bonita

Grade and Salary: Grade 7 (£37, 694 - £47,389)

FTE and working pattern: Full-time (35 hours per week), Fixed Term for 5 Years 

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

Purpose of Role

The Orkney ‘demonstrator’ project is part of the Horizon funded programme Isla Bonita: Supporting Managing Authorities to Restore the Oceans and Waters on Islands. In line with the European Ocean Pact, Isla Bonita has the overall aim to make the ocean, and waters become island communities’ best ally.  It will do this by supporting island managing Authorities to drive systemic transitions including relevant climate resilience. Island managing Authorities, will co-develop a range of demonstration projects, including a range of Nature Based Solutions (NBS), into a portfolio with broad applicability. 

 Part 1: European oysters once formed significant biogenic reefs, delivering important ecosystem services to coastal communities such as habitat provision, water filtration, carbon storage and coastal protection. These important reefs are now collapsed (using IUCN criteria) mostly due to overfishing in the 1800’s. The Orkney Demonstrator will restore oyster reefs using at least three different reef types in 10 x 10m patches whilst evaluating and optimising the habitat creation. Shell waste will be repurposed to create the oyster patch reefs and the oyster survival and biodiversity benefits will demonstrate the most cost-effective enhanced design. A plan for scaling-up locally and nationally will be produced. 

 Part 2: When lost, creels made from non-biodegradable materials remain intact for decades and continue to capture marine animals (ghost fishing) and contribute to marine plastic pollution. This combined with other plastics is a growing problem for Orkney.  The technology to improve Abandoned Lost or Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) retrieval from the seabed will be demonstrated and optimised working with local fishers to identify areas with high losses of creels. Litter retrieval innovations will include using marine drones fitted with appropriate tools to allow gear to be subsequently hauled onboard retrieving vessels. Recovered creels will be repaired as necessary and re-used for further fishing. 

International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT) 

ICIT is the Orkney campus of Heriot-Watt University, located in Stromness. It was established in 1989, and is an internationally recognized hub for research, consultancy and postgraduate teaching.  The campus staff specialise in marine science, renewable energy, and the sustainable blue economy and are situated in the refurbished Robert Rendall Building (the former Stromness Primary School). ICIT is part of the broader Orkney Research & Innovation Campus. 

Key Duties & Responsibilities

The  Innovation & Research Associate will deliver: 

PART 1 – Oyster restoration 

Planning tasks 

• Project activity coordination support (e.g. between academic partners, local authorities NGOs, and partners). 
• Fieldwork activity planning (e.g. risk assessments and health & safety documentation associated with work onboard vessels). 
• Support license applications and processing 

Practical help for outreach and engagement of relevant stakeholders 

• Help arranging and preparing meetings with local authorities and organizations. These meetings are aimed to (1) estimate fishing gear loss and (2) spatial patterns including areas for creel loss that can be used for retrieval operations and explore feasibility for recovery schemes. 

Fieldwork  

• Assist in the settlement of oyster spat onto structures and biosecurity of moving juvenile oysters to the study sites 
• Prepare and obtain equipment for fieldwork and materials for the construction of reef units 
• Equipment transport, cleaning, maintenance and storing between fieldwork activities. 
• Construct reef units and work with Local Authority partners to secure workspace to do so. 
• Participate in vessel-based surveys, including eDNA sampling as appropriate 

Analysis support (e.g. data recording, organizing, quality control). 

• Undertake and assist in statistical analyses and producing result figures, maps and result summaries for reports, publications and outreach. 

PART 2 - ALDFG work 

Planning tasks 

• Project activity coordination support (e.g. between academic partners, local authorities, fishers, NGOs, and partners). 
• Fieldwork activity planning support (e.g. regarding risk assessments and other health & safety documentation associated with work onboard vessels and use of ROV). 

Practical help for outreach and engagement of relevant stakeholders 

• Help arranging and preparing meetings with local fishers, fisheries organizations. These meetings are aimed to (1) estimate fishing gear loss and (2) spatial patterns including areas for creel loss that can be used for retrieval operations and explore feasibility for recovery schemes. 

Fieldwork support 

• Assist in equipment preparation for fieldwork. 
• Assist with equipment transport and ensuring proper cleaning and storing between fieldwork activities. 
• Participate in vessel-based surveys for ALDFG retrieval and associated data recording. 
• Participate in ROV field trials. 
• Coordinate activities for retrieved fishing gear repair, reuse, and reintegration into the local fishery. 

Analysis support (e.g. data recording, organizing, quality control). 

• Support for abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear impact assessment (ghost fishing, plastic pollution) based on monitoring and fieldwork data. 
• Support cost-benefit analyses for lost creel retrieval and reuse. 
• Support documenting safety, efficiency and cost metrics for ROV-assisted gear retrieval compared to other approaches, and identifying hardware and software gaps. 
• Assist in producing result figures, maps and result summaries for reports, publications and outreach. 

As part of the academic community within the Institute of Life and Earth Sciences (ILES) the I&RA will have the opportunity to develop skills and experience in postgraduate teaching, supporting PhD research and participating in other academic activities at the Orkney Campus.

Essential & Desirable Criteria

Essential

• Good communication and interpersonal skills 
• Experience of work at sea, especially with fishers 
• Experience of data handling using databases, spreadsheets, GIS and statistical packages. 
• Ability to work well as part of an interdisciplinary team and to show initiative. 
• Reasonable fitness level –there will be a need to move equipment or work long hours or at sea in response to tidal cycles that are physically demanding. 
• Willingness to undertake fieldwork and to organize near-shore boat work and subcontractors. 
• Meticulous approach to scientific work. 
• Willingness to spend time working away from home.  
• A full UK driving license or equivalent qualification that would enable driving on UK roads and therefore access to field and laboratory locations. 
• A strong academic record with practical field-based research experience and/or a PhD in Marine Sciences. 
• Experience of scientific writing and fluent in English 
• A track record of generating outputs from scientific information and research 
• Willingness to live and work in Orkney 

Desirable

• Appropriate level of diving qualification for compliance with the UK Diving at Work Regulations (CMAS 3*; Dive Master, Dive Leader etc). 
• Experience of husbandry, biosecurity, aquarium management for aquatic invertebrates 
• Experience of working with aquatic invertebrates, especially molluscs and crustaceans 
• An enthusiasm for the marine environment and conservation 
• Experience of R 
• Experience of marine monitoring  

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted up to 23:55 (UK time) on Monday 10th of August 2026. 

Please submit your CV and covering letter describing your suitability for the role via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment.

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g., part-time working and job share options.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our university community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

About Heriot-Watt University

At Heriot-Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

About our Team   

Prof. William (Bill) Sanderson works within the Institute of Life and Earth Sciences (ILES) at the Edinburgh campus and is the lead scientist on the project.  He is the overall project lead and will lead part 1 of the programme. Sanderson has worked in Orkney since 1996 but has been a regular visitor conducting research and teaching there for the last 15 years.  Sanderson’s Marine Environmental Enhancement Team (MEET) is a multi-award winning (see DEEP/Restoration Forth) and pioneering research group. Sanderson has more than 30 years’ experience of applied marine conservation science and research, centred on Marine Protected Areas and species and habitats of high biodiversity conservation importance.  Over the last 12 years Sanderson’s team has been leading the development of restoration work for the European native oyster (Ostrea edulis). This has involved the delivery of research on environmental history, the optimisation of restoration techniques and the clarification of business models for carbon, biodiversity and water quality benefits.  In order to operationalise restoration, MEET has also focused on key aspects of biosecurity, policy for shell reuse, supply chains, spat production and brood stock development. 

Dr Kristine Cerbule’s will lead Part 2 of the programme.  Her main research interests primarily focus on fishing gear technology, fisheries sustainability. This includes such topics as reduction of bycatches and improvement in size selectivity in fisheries. Other aspects include estimations of fisheries related marine plastic pollution and continuous capture of marine animals by abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (also called “ghost fishing”. 

Professor Sandy Kerr is Director of the International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT) at Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney Campus. The multidisciplinary team at ICIT focusses on the sustainable management of marine resources and the challenge of meeting Net Zero targets in island settings. Initially trained in land economics his PhD examined the development process on small islands and their sustainability. Over a 30 year period Sandy has worked on projects across the EU as well as Ecuador, Colombia and Indonesia. Sandy’s research interests centre on the growing economic demands being placed on our seas and the challenge this creates for coastal communities. A second strand of interest is optimising community benefits from renewable energy. Sandy is part of the management group for the Island Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ).