This position is located in National Capital Area Office, in the National Capital Area Division. This position is located in a National Park Service organization. The purpose of the position is to perform routine and uncomplicated biological science tasks common to natural resource management. Open to the first 100 applicants or until 02/05/2024 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Duties

The major duties of the Biological Science Technician (Plants) position include, but are not limited to, the following: Collect field data concerning plant ecology using established monitoring protocols. Perform various field tasks related to quantitative plant ecology, including: installation and maintenance of permanent forest monitoring plots; navigation to remote field sites using global positioning system (GPS) technologies, maps, and a compass; measurement of trees, shrubs, herbs, ferns, sedges, and grasses; description of forest canopy and habitat characteristics; collection of GPS and photo point data; and identification and collection of plant specimens. Perform in remote and urban locations, and will require attention to safety, long hikes carrying field gear, comfort working in wetland habitats, and excellent field biology skills. Must be familiar with and able to identify vascular plant species of the mid-Atlantic region. Responsible for vegetation inventory and monitoring; delineating, mapping, and classifying plant communities; preparing detailed site descriptions of rare or non-native plant occurrences; collecting voucher specimens; preparing and maintaining equipment; assisting in the herbarium, including maintaining specimens, preparing labels, and identifying specimens. Perform data entry, basic manipulation, and implementation of quality control procedures, assist with report writing, data analysis, and presentation preparation.

Requirements

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-02/05/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience. To qualify for this position, you must meet one the following Basic Requirements in order to be eligible for this position: BASIC REQUIREMENT: If you do not meet these basic requirements, you will be considered not qualified and will not receive consideration for this position. I have specialized experience that includes one or more of the following: (1) research activity or control program work, (2) nursery work that required the growing and maintenance of plants in a controlled environment, or (3) work comparable to that with a large dairy farm where production records, animal environment, and sanitary conditions were kept in accordance with modern dairy practice. -OR- I have successfully completed a full 4 year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. At least 6 semester hours of courses must have been directly related to the position to be filled. The successful completion of a full course of study of at least 12 months in a school for clinical laboratory technicians may be substituted for the 1 year of specialized experience required at the GS-05 level for positions involving microbiology and biochemistry technician work. To qualify for the Biological Science Technician (Plants) position at the GS-05 grade, you must meet the following minimum qualifications by the closing date of this announcement. EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-04 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: (1) performing basic vegetation inventories, studies, and surveys (2) participating in site rehabilitation through soil preparation, native seed dispersal, live planting and weeding; (3) applying/performing a variety of manual, mechanical, chemical, and/or bio-control methods in planned management of exotics (non-natives), native species, and/or weeds. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least a 4 year course of study above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with 24 semester hours of course work in a related field of scientific or technical study, such as in biolgoy, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics, or other directly-related subject matter (At least 6 semester hours of this coursework must have been in subjects that were directly related to the work of this position, such as in botany, plants, or other natural resource topics related to vegetation management. You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of years of applicable education and divide by 4. Then take the number of months of full time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. You must include months, years and hours per week worked to receive credit for your work and/or volunteer experience. One year of specialized experience is equivalent to 12 months at 40 hours per week. Part-time hours are prorated. You will not receive any credit for experience that does not indicate exact hours per week or is listed as "varies". Experience listed as full-time will be credited at 40 hours per week. Volunteer Experience: 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.

Education

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Contacts

• Address National Capital Area Office 1100 Ohio Drive SW Washington, DC 20242 US
• Name: NCR SHRO
• Email: [email protected]