This research ecologist supports the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in San Juan, Puerto Rico acquiring and managing environmental data, analyzing and disseminating data, and completing field and laboratory work in scientific collaborations. For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Kathleen McGinley at [email protected].

Duties

Addresses and conducts research to characterize how water, soil, forest, and air resources respond to ecosystem management practices, natural disturbances, and the changing atmospheric environment. Identifies practices that restore, protect, and enhance tropical forests, provide new information on forest quality and delivery across landscapes, and produce long-term ecological research. Performs research activities and technology transfer related to the incumbent’s area of expertise in soil biogeochemistry. Serves as the scientific lead for a chemical laboratory. Conducts research is to understand the structure and function of tropical forested ecosystems in response to ongoing climate and land-use change. Researches the effects of prior land-use history and species assemblages on tropical forest regeneration. Interprets and evaluates the results of chemical analyses and processes to determine their scientific significance. Supervises 20% or less of the time.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Successful completion of one year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov
• Must be fluent in written and spoken English and Spanish.

Qualifications

To qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. Basic Requirement for Ecology Series (0408): Degree: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in biology, or a related field of science underlying ecological research that included at least 30 semester hours in basic and applied biological sciences. These hours must have included at least 9 semester hours in ecology, and 12 semester hours in physical and mathematical sciences. In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience OR directly related education in the amounts listed below. Specialized Experience Requirement: For the GS-12: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as including all of the following (a, b, and c) : a. Conducting the full cycle of scientific research (including identifying research topics, defining study objectives, organizing and conducting the research, interpreting the results, and presenting the findings in the form of reports, demonstrations, manuscripts, and other appropriate technology transfer activities) in one or more of the following areas: (1) increasing understanding of the factors that influence ecosystem resilience to disturbances; (2) evaluating the effects of climate change on ecosystem resilience and resistance; and/or (3) identifying and evaluating restoration and conservation strategies using a multi-scale approach that spans plant populations, communities and ecosystems and larger landscapes.; b. Developing tools, models, or methods to evaluate and identify practices that restore, protect, and enhance tropical forests, provide new information on forest quality and delivery across landscapes, and produce long-term ecological research and c. Disseminating research findings at conferences or scientific meetings and publishing results in peer-reviewed journals. OR Possess directly related education: A conferred Ph.D. degree that included scientific research in areas related to the work of the position which is conservation biology, restoration science, disturbance ecology, fire ecology, invasive species and control and/or includes coursework in areas such as plant population ecology, community ecology, landscape ecology, botany, plant genetics, geospatial analysis, entomology. 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. TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

See above for required education and graduate education that may be qualifying for the specific grade level.

Contacts

• Address USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT. Albuquerque, NM 87109 US
• Name: HRM Contact Center
• Phone: 1-877-372-7248 X2
• Email: [email protected]