Biological Science Technician (Plants)
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Salary: $44,117 – $63,733 per year Schedule: Full-time Location: Ashland, OR Opening Date: 04/12/2024 Closing Date: 04/26/2024
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Duties
Duties: This position serves as a Vegetation Monitoring Crew Lead for the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network.
Major Duties
- Lead small field crews that conduct long-term vegetation monitoring within the network parks, often working and camping in remote backcountry locations.
- Collect vegetation monitoring data, ensuring adherence to data quality control standards; inputs and reviews data, and troubleshoots monitoring equipment and software.
- Requires strong regional knowledge of plant communities and taxonomy of Southern Oregon / Northern California, with proficiency in using dichotomous keys for plant species identification.
- Apply computer skills, particularly in database applications for data entry and management, and the use of GPS units to load point locations and navigate in the field, are essential.
- Plan the logistics and scheduling for vegetation monitoring fieldwork, following safety and field communication protocols.
- Requires excellent organizational and communication skills to efficiently manage intricate field schedules and project communications with collaborators and partners.
- Provide assistance on managing other ecological data (e.g., data entry, quality control, etc.), logistics
- Plan for field projects, writing permits, and other operations (e.g., safety, communications, vehicle maintenance, etc.).
Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.
Qualifications
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 the GS-06 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications:
EXPERIENCE: At least one year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: (1) terrestrial vegetation monitoring or research;(2) conducting field work to collect vegetation; (3) monitoring data using established plot or transect sampling methods; and (4) field identification of plants to the genus and species level.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one year of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master’s degree or equivalent graduate degree with a major study in a related field such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture or mathematics. At least 6 semester hours in any of these courses must be directly related to the position to be filled. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
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 hours per week worked and transcripts.
To qualify for the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications:
EXPERIENCE: At least one 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: (1) terrestrial vegetation monitoring or research; (2)conducting field work to collect vegetation cover or abundance data using established plot or transect sampling methods;(3) field identification of plants to the genus and species level, with an emphasis on vascular plants in the Klamath and Cascade Mountain regions in southwestern OR and northwestern CA; (4) processing vegetation datasets for quality control; (5) managing vegetation datasets within complex databases; and (6) editing guidance documents on field methods and data processing for clarity. You must include hours worked per week in your resume.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one year of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master’s degree or equivalent graduate degree with a major study in a related field such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture or mathematics. At least 6 semester hours in any of these courses must be directly related to the position to be filled. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
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 hours per week worked and 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 Clearance: 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. Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP/ICTAP eligible. If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work. Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001).
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.
Additional information
Career-Seasonal appointments are permanent positions and include the same benefits as Career appointments but don’t work on a year-round basis. Work is from approximately March – October and will be in a non-pay status for the remainder of the year.
A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected. The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.
This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.
Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactorily perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommendation by the position’s supervisor.
Physical Demands: The work is partially sedentary with prolonged standing, walking, and bending often required. Heavy items (e.g., equipment and packs up to 50 pounds) must be lifted and carried on a routine basis. Requires the ability to work outside under a variety of challenging conditions, including high elevations, extreme heat (>100+ degrees F) and cold, ticks, and poison oak. Up to 8 days at a time may be spent camping in primitive conditions.