This position is located in the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AKFSC), with one vacancy in Juneau, AK. This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS AKFSC-24-12203399-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

As a Fish Biologist, you will perform the following duties: In a developmental capacity, serves as Scientist on fishery-independent resources and ecosystem assessment surveys. Uses modern analytical software, including R, R Studio, R Markdown, Microsoft Excel, and GitHub to analyze and report scientific findings. Participates in the dissemination of fishery data.

Requirements

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy. Conditions of Employment: This position requires regular at-sea participation in fishery-independent and ecosystem research cruises, working on deck of Government-owned or chartered vessels for up to 12 hours per shift. Duties occur over long hours and require an ability to lift and move biological samples and equipment multiple times a day. Sea duties are conducted in a demanding physical marine environment that involves fisheries or oceanographic sampling operations exposed to weather over long, odd hours, lifting and moving heavy equipment or biological samples many times throughout the day, on an unsteady platform depending on sea state. Must be able to frequently bend, lift, and stoop to perform field operations. Performs non-cruise tasks such as driving a truck loaded with research equipment to vessel. Must be able to obtain and maintain a valid state driver's license to operate a government vehicle in completion of assigned tasks i.e. site visits, field research, etc. Requires ability to lift gear, and deliver/pick up equipment from vessels. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: This position has a positive Education Requirement in addition to at least one year of Specialized Experience OR substitution of education for experience OR combination in order to be found minimally qualified. Transcripts must be submitted with your application package. You MUST meet the following requirements: To qualify for the Fish Biology series 482: A. DEGREE: Major in biological science that included: At least 6 semester hours in aquatic subjects such as limnology, ichthyology, fishery biology, aquatic botany, aquatic fauna, oceanography, fish culture, or related courses in the field of fishery biology; and At least 12 semester hours in the animal sciences in such subjects as general zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, entomology, parasitology, ecology, cellular biology, genetics, or research in these fields. (Excess course work in aquatic subjects may be used to meet this requirement when appropriate.) OR B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), of which a minimum of 6 semester hours were in aquatic subjects and 12 semester hours were in the animal sciences, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND Selective Placement Factor: Experience aboard ocean-going vessels conducting fishery-independent or ecosystem surveys conducted in the North Pacific Ocean collecting, identifying, and enumerating marine fish and invertebrates. AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations e.g., professional; philanthropic, religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies; knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. To qualify at the ZP-2 (GS-7): SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: One full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZP-1 or GS-05 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Participating in biological field monitoring or troubleshooting fish survey equipment; and Recording biological data in spreadsheets and databases OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: One full year of graduate level education. OR SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT (S.A.A): S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership: Class standing -- Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses. Grade-point average (G.P.A.) -- Applicants must have a grade-point average of: 2.9 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2years of the curriculum. Grade-point averages are to be rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9. Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society -- Applicants can be considered eligible based on membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies listed below. Agencies considering eligibility based on any society not included in the following list must ensure that the honor society meets the minimum requirements of the Association of College Honor Societies. Membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used to meet the requirements of this provision. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of education and experience as described above.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken.

Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty.

Special Instructions for Foreign Education: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities must be evaluated in terms of equivalency to that acquired in U.S. colleges and universities. Applicants educated in whole or in part in foreign countries must submit sufficient evidence, including transcripts, to an accredited private organization for an equivalency evaluation of course work and degree. A listing of these accredited organizations can be found on the Department of Education's website. You MUST provide a copy of the letter containing the results of the equivalency evaluation with a course by course listing along with your application. Failure to provide such documentation by the closing date of the announcement will result in lost consideration. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated visit: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

Contacts

• Address NOAA Office of Human Capital Services (OHCS) 1315 East West Hwy SSMC4 Silver Spring, MD 20910 US
• Name: Victor Cruz
• Email: [email protected]