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Comment by scibotics | Hacker News Reader

If you are interested in working in ocean research to explore, understand, and protect the ocean, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is hiring. https://careers.whoi.edu

We built and operate the ROV Jason and AUV Sentry, which were previously used to map these dumpsites[1]. We are always working on innovative vehicle capabilities and are currently looking for data scientists, software/mechanical/electrical engineers, machine learning specialists, etc. to help us. It's also a great opportunity to take a sabbatical by the beach :)

1: http://4dgeo.whoi.edu/geo-bin/GB_cmd?cmd=SlideShow&Match=201...

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Plus, Woods Hole is a charming place to live/work/visit if anyone gets the chance

Would a curious, wannabe scientist be welcome at the Research Center as a visitor? Is there anything I could actually help with/volunteer on while there?

Do you mean at Woodwell Climate Center (woodwellclimate.org), formerly the Woods Hole Research Center? If so, I'm not sure. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI.edu) is nearby but unrelated.

Public outreach is very important for ocean science so we (WHOI) do have a visitor center and regularly host events[1] on campus and online. I'm not aware of anything for volunteers right now but in the past we have asked for help labeling data sets or reporting marine mammal sightings[2].

1: https://www.whoi.edu/who-we-are/visit-whoi/events-happenings...

2: https://main.whoi.edu/

I was originally thinking of WHOI.edu - I was unfamiliar with Woodwell Climate Center.

Appreciate the links though - will definitely keep an eye on the websites next time I'm the area!

The cape is a fine place to visit and a terrible place to live. The whole place is a "quaintness facade" put on to part tourists from their money. It's fine for a week or for a summer but living it grates on you.

Your dollars are worth ~20% less (nothing pays even close to 20% higher) and unless you have big dreams of running a tourist facing business (or fleecing the people who fleece the tourists) there is squat for opportunity there.

I would only accept a job at Woods Hole if it will specifically further your career.

It is like any resort / vacation area. There are lots of jobs in food services and the trades - nearly all of the properties are single families and they have to survive beach climate, wind, and the occasional hurricane.

The Cape has a lot more unique stuff than the average vacation region, as you can see Woods Hole is there.

So much bitterness and cynicism on HN.

>It is like any resort / vacation area

Yes, and they all suck as places to actually live (possible exception if you're retired and have lots of money) for those same reasons.

>The Cape has a lot more unique stuff than the average vacation region, as you can see Woods Hole is there.

Every vacation area has some similar myth that they pour into the kool aid in order to convince themselves they're important and that it's not just about the tourism industry.

>So much bitterness and cynicism on HN.

I'm bitter because I lived it.

Geology can't work its magic on that godforsaken sandbar fast enough.

Cape Codder / tech biz owner here. I guess that makes me the one who fleeces the businesses that fleece the tourists? You're mostly right, but obviously seriously jaded/bitter. Real estate is expensive, the business economy revolves around tourism and the population is aging. That doesn't mean we're just giving up though, so please if you're young and have the income to support a life here please do so! We need more young people willing to fight for the future of the Cape!

I am curious why you think anyone not set to inherit a business would not be better off pursuing opportunity elsewhere.

There is some decent opportunity in the trades but not if you're not already an established professional but outside the tourism industries there isn't much.

If you have any ambition to do anything to anything people will stand in your way and put up roadblocks because your expanding liquor store or auto-body shop (or whatever) isn't what they think is "befitting the local character".

Let's rewind...

Someone: Work at Woods Hole! We're hiring.

You: The Cape sucks, don't go there.

Me: If you have a good job, come here and advocate for change.

Where did we go off the rails?

As someone who is, unfortunately, in a lower earning portion of the US,

> so please if you're young and have the income to support a life here please do so!

Please feed into our pyramid scheme so I can continue to maintain my quality of life? Guy, what? Nobody is just handing out money, why do you expect it to be handed to you?

Did I say "the Cape is a great place to live! no problems here! move here!"? No. I agreed with the fundamental problems the Cape faces, and am asking for others to help change/stop these issues. Fighting for affordable housing, advocating for good schools, supporting non-tourism based business... there are countless other causes. My point was that "I'm not going down without a fight" and we need help, because we're losing the war for the Cape, and the future is bleak if "good men do nothing". No one is asking to be handed anything, I'm asking YOU and others to fight for a robust and thriving community.

I can't believe I'm defending "advocating for the Cape" on Hacker News of all places.

I'm fully aware of what you said but it is all contingent on having a high income. It rings hollow.

fwiw i love cape cod and the islands and hope you can figure out a way to fight for those things. i spent a lot of time on martha's vineyard growing up and it was always so sad to hear islanders talk about their kids leaving for better opportunities.

Hey thanks. I have kids and talk to them openly about the problems with the Cape, and how they might find more opportunity elsewhere. Like most kids they love their home, but fully recognize that housing costs, and career opportunities are limited.

My wife and I built our business from the ground up, but couldn't have done so without family support and some advantages that others do not have. This privilege is something we recognize and work to "fix" by participating in local government and biz development organizations.

Getting "young" working families to simply show up at town hall is a huge challenge but we're working on it, and are not going to let the Cape slide into just a place for the wealthy, elderly and second home-owners.

Woods Hole isn't like most of the cape, though. It's got a different culture, it's geographically very much on the edge of it, the landscape is super different than the gentle beaches you get on most of the cape, pretty close to Boston relative to other spots, etc. I would agree that many parts of the cape fit your critique though.

My wife and I lived in many places throughout the US.

Compared to Silicon Valley, it's a massive bargain. Our house on the Cape is a "mansion" compared to what we could afford if we lived in Silicon Valley.

I even spent a few months living in Falmouth, near Woods hole. Homes were affordable, schools were good, prices were reasonable. Can you find a cheaper place to live? Yes, but it's all about your priorities. You can have a mansion in the middle of nowhere or a reasonable house a 15-minute walk from the beach.

Anyway, after moving around a lot in my early life, what I can tell you is that if you can't figure out how to be happy in a generally middle-class location like Cape Cod, you won't be happy anywhere.

Thanks for posting. Any remote opportunities? I’m located in ATL and not able to relocate.

The opportunities are occasionally remote as in "on a research vessel somewhere in the middle of the ocean for several weeks." But virtually everyone has a home base near the campus. The nature of the work is very hands-on, even for software.

Edit: As pointed out below, there are some remote software developer roles right now.

The job posting does say remote though? https://careers-whoi.icims.com/jobs/1448/senior-software-eng...

Great point. That role is for an application developer to help build data management systems for oceanographic data: https://www.bco-dmo.org/

Interesting this is listed as a requirement for Senior Software Engineer:

Physical Requirements Physical duties for this position include but are not limited to, visual abilities to include depth perception, ability to see peripherally, ability to adjust vision to bring objects into focus, ability to distinguish basic colors. Ability to hear and respond to instructions. Ability to work with and around others as well as alone. Other physical tasks include occasional standing/walking; manual dexterity and mobility, use of hands for basic/fine grasping/manipulation, and repetitive motion (keyboard and mouse). Physical duties are subject to change.

And this is for Software Manager:

Physical Requirements No pre-determined physical requirements; all candidates should be encouraged to apply.

Are volunteers welcome?

We're not very well-equipped to handle volunteers right now, but we are releasing more data and open source software every day, and would be happy to see contributions from the community.

Can you put a link here about that open source programs?

We have a GitHub for the institution (https://github.com/whoigit/) and some individual labs have separate GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab accounts. For instance, some of the robotics code behind the AUV Sentry is here: https://bitbucket.org/whoidsl/

You would need to add some insurance in that volunteering plan. Doing field work in the ocean is hard and dangerous. For they would be a risk to be sued.

... And the ship job is not so glamourous as you think.

Oceanography is fantastic, I enjoyed it a lot, but people shouldn't build a wrong image in their mind. This is hard work.

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