Job opening: Biological Science Technician
Salary: $19 per hour
Published at: Dec 20 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
These positions may be filled for a six month seasonal period, but can vary due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: March-July 2025.
Depending on location, government housing may be available. For more park(s) information, select "Learn more about this agency" below:
Duties
Performs technician work that is supportive of professionals in resource management (i.e. Ecologists, Botanist, etc.). These positions are primarily concerned with carrying out field studies on plants and plant ecology, inventorying, monitoring, and mapping plant populations; performing invasive plant eradication or revegetation work; conducting grazing and monitoring studies; developing improved methods of controlling invasive plant species and plant diseases; performing nursery work, seed collection, and similar work usually concerned with higher plant life. May also perform some forestry work concerned with monitoring, rehabilitation, reforestation, propagation, and/or thinning; monitoring hazard tree and disease programs; and monitoring and/or controlling disease and insect infestations. Specific duties will vary by park location.
Implements natural resource management projects following established procedures. Collects and organizes field data, ensuring quality control of data or collected samples. Provides assessment and classification of data.
Assists in the preparation of reports, plans, and guidelines related to resource management projects. Draft project reports may include literature research, description of methods, preparation of graphs and charts, and summary of findings.
Provides logistical support for resource management projects as well as advice, assistance, and training to students, volunteers or lower graded technicians.
Uses a variety of computer programs to compile, reduce, store, retrieve, analyze, and report data and other resource management information. Uses a wide variety of specialized equipment to carry out resource management projects.
Physical Demands: The work requires regular physical exertion such as walking or climbing over wet, rough, uneven and/or rocky surfaces; bending, crouching, stooping, or reaching to observe, collect and/or record field data; or in some situations the work may require physical exertion to handle wild animals, prepare soil for planting, camp overnight in backcountry locations, to scuba dive or operate a boat (varies by location). Heavy items, such as equipment packs weighing up to 50 pounds, must be lifted and carried on a regular basis. May be required to hike several miles in a day.
Work Environment: The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in a field environment. The work performed in the field involves regular and recurring exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain, poisonous plants, biting insects and wild animals. Some positions require the use of chemicals (for example, pesticides/herbicides to control invasive plants or chemical treatments for invasive aquatic species). The employee is required to follow all safety procedures based on the task being carried out which may require use protective clothing/gear such as gowns, coats, boots, goggles, gloves, etc.
Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-01/10/2025-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-5 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-4 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: assist in conducting established natural resource management projects; following instructions and standardized procedures for natural resources field work; collecting and organizing field data; performing routine and recurring testing of collected biological samples; following established quality control protocols and safety procedures for resource management projects; assisting higher level specialists or technicians in the preparation of portions of reports, plans, or guidelines related to resource management projects. Duties are supportive of professional specialists in resource management; relevant to research, conservation, and management of natural resources such but not limited to wildlife (land or aquatic) monitoring or control; field studies on plant or forest ecology, inventorying, monitoring, and/or control of invasive plants, or making other field observations on the state of natural resource conditions. 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 in an accredited educational institution (120 semester hour or 180 quarter hours) which included at least 24 semester hours of scientific or technical courses, such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. At least 6 semester hours of courses must be directly related to this position. Examples of directly related education are biology, botany, range science, forestry, ecology, environmental science, zoology, fisheries, animal husbandry, natural resource management or other directly related fields. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. NOTE: only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to one year of specialized experience. For example, I have six months of the specialized experience (50% of the experience requirement), and three years of college study from an accredited institution (50% of the qualifying education) which included at least 12 semester hours of related coursework as described above of which at least 3 semester hours of directly related education as described above.
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.
ICTAP/CTAP Statement: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies.
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.