These positions are located in Alaska Regional Office in the Natural Resources Division. This is a term position (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of four years. Term positions do not convey permanent status in the Federal service. Government housing is not available.

Duties

Biological Science Technician (Plants) positions focus on carrying out field studies on plants and plant ecology; inventorying and monitoring exotic plants; leading field crews in exotic plant eradication; protecting plants by building and maintaining fences; conducting grazing monitoring studies; developing improved methods of controlling weeds and plant diseases; and similar work usually concerned with higher plant life. As a GS-07, duties may include: Participating as a team member conducting invasive plant control, restoration, and seed collecting projects using a variety of methods in remote natural settings. Recording data relating to plant studies and providing preliminary assessment and classification of the information. Documenting occurrence and distribution of identified species. Safely handling and applying herbicides to target invasive plants. Creating maps and reports for use in the field and for communicating about work sites. Collecting, reviewing, and utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) data. As a GS-08, duties may include: Leading field crews conducting invasive plant control, restoration, and seed collecting projects using a variety of methods in remote natural settings. Determining daily work tasks and assignments for invasive plant management and vegetation restoration team members. Training and guiding team members in the care of data collection, field work and record keeping. Safely handling and applying herbicides to target invasive plants. Collecting, reviewing, and utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) data. Participating in environmental studies documenting factors affecting plant species and habitat. As a GS-09, duties may include: Leading multiple field crews conducting invasive plant control, restoration, and seed collecting projects using a variety of methods in remote natural settings. Evaluating, mitigating, and communicating risks and challenges to team members prior to conducting field work. Safely handling and applying herbicides to target invasive plants. Collecting, reviewing, and utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) data. Photographing, collecting, and mounting plant specimens encountered at different stages of development. Collecting ecological site information for population distribution, condition, trend, associated species, geology, soil type and prepare reports. This announcement is being advertised concurrently under number AK-1537-AKRO-24-12285265-ST, which is open to all merit promotion and status candidates. You must apply to each announcement separately if you wish to be considered under both recruitment methods. We anticipate hiring two applicants for the GS-07 vacancies and one applicant for either the GS-08 or GS-09 vacancy. These positions do not have promotion potential nor are they developmental (career-ladder) positions.

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 at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-06 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: participating as a field crew team member for exotic plant control projects in remote natural settings; identifying target exotic plant species from desirable native plant species; collecting exotic plant control data and records according to standard protocols; surveying and mapping exotic plant populations using GPS handheld devices; handling and applying herbicides; participating in native restoration programs; and recording biological and plant data using computer software programs (such as Microsoft Access, Excel, Word, ArcGIS, or comparable software). You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of progressively higher-level graduate education in botany, biology, plant ecology, restoration ecology, horticulture, arboriculture, agriculture, forestry, natural resource sciences, environmental sciences, conservation sciences, and other directly related disciplines appropriate to the position. 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 semester hours or equivalent earned towards a graduate degree and divide by 18 semester hours or equivalent. 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 and hours worked per week. --OR-- To qualify for this position at the GS-08 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: participating as a field crew team member for exotic plant control projects in remote natural settings; identifying target exotic plant species from desirable native plant species; collecting exotic plant control data and records according to standard protocols; surveying, mapping and documenting botany populations using GPS handheld devices; handling and applying herbicides; participating in native restoration programs; researching and compiling botany inventory data; and planning or conducting ecological restoration or invasive species management.. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two full years of graduate education leading to a master's or equivalent graduate degree in botany, biology, plant ecology, restoration ecology, horticulture, arboriculture, agriculture, forestry, natural resource sciences, environmental sciences, conservation sciences, and other directly related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To calculate your percentage of qualifying graduate education, divide your number of semester hours in excess of 18 semester hours by 18 or the number your school uses to represent one year of full time graduate academic study. To calculate your percentage of experience, divide your months of qualifying specialized experience by 12. Add the two percentages. They must equal 100% to qualify using this option. You must include transcripts and hours worked per week. --OR-- To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-08 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: leading and conducting a field crew through exotic plant control projects in remote natural settings; identifying target exotic plant species from desirable native plant species; collecting exotic plant control data and records according to standard protocols; surveying, mapping and documenting exotic plant populations using GPS handheld devices; handling and applying herbicides; participating in native restoration programs; researching and compiling botany inventory data; extensive knowledge of technical methods and procedures of biological resource practices with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Wilderness Act, and the Endangered Species Act; and planning or conducting ecological restoration or invasive species management. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least two full years of level graduate education leading to a master's or equivalent graduate degree, in in botany, biology, plant ecology, restoration ecology, horticulture, arboriculture, agriculture, forestry, natural resource sciences, environmental sciences, conservation sciences, and other directly related disciplines appropriate to the position. You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To calculate your percentage of qualifying graduate education, divide your number of semester hours in excess of 18 semester hours by 18 or the number your school uses to represent one year of full time graduate academic study. To calculate your percentage of experience, divide your months of qualifying specialized experience by 12. Add the two percentages. They must equal 100% to qualify using this option. You must include transcripts and hours worked per week. Important! When describing the nature of your duties (e.g., your paid or unpaid work or volunteer experience), please be extremely clear, thorough, and specific. We will not make assumptions regarding your experience. Make sure your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications and answers to the job questionnaire. For additional information on what to include in your resume, click here. For information on what you should leave out of your resume, click here. The following five-minute video may also be helpful for creating and updating your federal resume: click here. 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 Alaska Regional Office 240 W 5th Avenue Anchorage, AK 99501 US
• Name: Carrie Shapbell
• Phone: (907) 644-3340
• Email: [email protected]