The typical seasonal entry-on-duty period is May - November, but can be variable during these months due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: April 2025 Open to the first 50 applicants or until 01/10/2025 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration. For more information about Indiana Dunes, please contact: [email protected]

Duties

As part of a field crew, you will conduct natural resource management fieldwork. Perform routine and recurring testing of collected samples. Field work will consist of physical, chemical, and biological assessment of aquatic resources focusing on restoration of native mussel species. Laboratory work will focus on maintaining aquatic culturing systems ensuring for the purpose of rearing native mussels. Install, operate, and maintain resource management equipment (e.g., tools, traps, and sampling, monitoring, photographic, and laboratory equipment). Some tools and operate equipment may be electrofishing systems, water quality instruments, and fish/mussel culturing systems. You will be required to work in a river environment via wading or boating and use an ATV of UTV. PHYSICAL DEMANDS The work is partially sedentary with prolonged standing, walking, and bending often required. Heavy items (e.g., packs and equipment up to 50 pounds) must be lifted and carried on a routine basis. WORK ENVIRONMENT The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in the field. Majority of the duties will be conducted outdoors in weather ranging from humid and hot to cold and snowy. Field work includes exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain, pesticides, poisonous plants, biting insects, and wild animals. Laboratory work may involve exposure to hazardous chemicals. You will be exposed to poisonous plants including the very poisonous wetland shrub Rhus vernix (poison sumac) and Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy), biting and stinging insects including ticks which may harbor Lyme disease, mosquitoes which may harbor West Nile Virus, tripping hazards. Aquatic work may require full emersion and direct bodily contact with water and muck may be unavoidable. Park Information: Indiana Dunes National Park is a 15,000-acre park located at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, approximately 45 miles southeast of Chicago, Illinois. The park is among the top 10% of most visited national park units annually; it is within 3 hours of 30 million people, includes 15 miles of Lake Michigan's southern shoreline, several historic districts, and over 50 miles of trails through forest, dune, wetland, and prairie ecosystems. The park is the birthplace of the science of ecology, has some of the most diverse plant and avian communities in the National Park Service, and hosts an array of exceptional cultural resources, for example the 1933 World's Fair Century of Progress homes. Small towns and vacation communities on the beaches of Lake Michigan, along with industrial corridors and farmlands, interspersed with large tracts of woodlands and wetlands, surround the park. All services are available in the communities, including schools, colleges, shopping, and other major amenities. The area has weather typical of the Midwest with temperatures normally ranging from 0 degrees in the winter to 90 degrees in the summer. Government housing may be available. Additionally, many houses and rental properties exist in the surrounding communities. Cuyahoga Valley National Park will utilize this announcement to clear career transition (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL) and as such, a certificate may not be issued for this duty location. Government Housing may be available. Located in Northeastern, Ohio Cuyahoga Valley National Park is situated along 22 miles of the Cuyahoga River Valley in a suburban setting between the cities of Akron and Cleveland. The park is predominately natural forest and meadow with some areas of agriculture and excellent outdoor recreation opportunities. Winters are moderately cold with average temperatures in the 20 to 30 degree ranges. Heavy snowfall is not unusual. Summers are moderately warm, average temperatures in the high 70's and 80's with occasional warm spells in the 90's. Rural, suburban, and urban communities are all within a reasonable commuting distance. Excellent K-12 schools, numerous colleges, universities, hospitals, and cultural attractions are available in the area.Cuyahoga Valley National Park's Web Site: http://www.nps.gov/cuva

Requirements

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-05 grade level, you must possess 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-04 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). For this position, specialized experience is experience performing biological work relating to the biological and/or physical chemical components of aquatic ecosystems or their subparts such as: water quality sampling; zooplankton sampling; sediment sampling; conducting aquatic environmental monitoring and management activities to document and assess environmental or natural resource conditions; fish or other aquatic animal presence, abundance, reproduction, management issues, and population dynamics; or other similar biological resource management and assessment activities using established protocols and standard scientific equipment; and that has included as a duty and responsibility data entry and data management using Microsoft Access, Excel, Word, ArcGIS, Pathfinder Office, or similar. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 4 years of education above high school (120 semester hour or 180 quarter hours) leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or 24 semester hours of course work in a related field of scientific or technical study, such as in biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, mathematics, wildlife biology, or other directly related subject matter. At least 6 semester hours of courses must be directly related to this position (fisheries biology, aquatic ecology, limnology, plankton ecology, microbial ecology, phycology, malacology, aquatic resources management). You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a COMBINATION of education and experience as described above. Only progressive education in excess of the first 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours (i.e., beyond the first two years) of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement, assuming the education includes the appropriate number of directly related semester hours, or the equivalent, in any combination of courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. If related, you will take the number of excess coursework beyond the first 2 years divided by 60 semester hours (or 90 quarter hours). Then take the number of months of qualifying specialized experience and divide by 12. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week worked and include transcripts. 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. CTAP/ICTAP: CTAP/ICTAP provides placement assistance to permanent Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated. Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal, proof of eligibility, and most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with their application. To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, applicants must be well-qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), score at least 85 on the assessment questionnaire, and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. If you are applying under CTAP or ICTAP, you MUST submit proof of eligibility under 5 CFR 330.602(a) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of your most recent performance rating, and a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) showing your position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP or ICTAP eligible. For information on CTAP and ICTAP visit: USAJOBS Help Center | Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL)

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 Interior Region 3, 4 and 5 601 Riverfront Drive Omaha, NE 68102 US
• Name: MWR HR Central Team
• Phone: 000-000-0000
• Email: [email protected]