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National Park Service is Hiring a Biological Science Technician Near Stafford, VA

Qualifications:

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-02/02/2024-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.

Preferred experience/training: The ability to obtain and maintain Herbicide Applicators License

To qualify for this position at the GS-05 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-04 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Experience must have been related to the work of the position for which application is made. The specialized experience required for some positions in this series is normally work performed in a controlled environment. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: performing basic vegetation inventories, studies, and surveys; compiling natural resource data using ArcGIS; 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 four years of progressively higher-level undergraduate coursework leading to a bachelor's degree or equivalent undergraduate 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. 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 bachelor's degree, in excess of 60 semester hours, and divide by 60 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.

Responsibilities:

The purpose of this position is to perform a wide variety of biological support assignments primarily in the program area of plants. Assignments consist of performing a variety of standardized technical support and addressing technical issues associated with the work.

• Carries out a wide variety of field activities to control non-native and invasive plant species and enhance native plant populations. Such activities may include inventory and assessment, habitat restoration, and application of herbicides (must possess or obtain Virginia Pesticide Applicator's License).
• Makes field observations of plant conditions and provides preliminary determinations on conditions/problems used in park planning and resource protection activities.
• Conducts routine and recurring resource monitoring programs for evaluating rare, threatened, and endangered species, vegetation communities, wildlife populations, cultural landscapes, ecosystem relationships and public health/safety issues.
• Assists in the preparation of reports and plans; uses standard statistical methods and procedures in performing routine and recurring testing of the field data.
• Participates in revegetation activities such as seed collection, site preparation, transplanting and seeding for meadow and forest restoration projects.
• Utilizes GPS/GIS technology and other software to collect, enter, and organize field data and maps.
• Develops outreach and education materials for social media, website, and other platforms to share information on park natural resources.

This position requires physical exertion such as walking long distances on rough, uneven ground and lifting/carrying heavy equipment and supplies. Regular and recurring field work involves exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain. Field work may be conducted as part of a team or independently, as conditions safely allow.

Job Summary