Collections Specialist II, Herbarium Specimen Digitization Project

About the California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences is a globally renowned scientific and cultural institution located in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Home to a world-class planetarium, aquarium, research center, and natural history museum—all under one living roof—our mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

Our extensive collections span plants, animals, fossils, and cultural artifacts from across the globe and throughout history. We are a diverse team of leading biodiversity scientists, educators, storytellers, designers, and communicators who work collaboratively to advance knowledge and inspire action through science and storytelling.

When you join the California Academy of Sciences, you become part of a mission-driven community that values curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. Whether you're working behind the scenes in research or engaging the public on the museum floor, your work will help connect people to the natural world and empower them to protect it.

About the Opportunity

As part of the biodiversity science efforts embedded within the Thriving California Initiative, the California Herbarium Specimen Digitization Project will make hundreds of thousands of specimens from the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) herbarium collections available online. This project combines the efficiency of high throughput specimen imaging using conveyor belt technology to image California herbarium specimens housed at CAS. Specimen images and associated data records will then be uploaded to a community science platform for further transcription and georeferencing of label data. Afterwards, fully transcribed and georeferenced records will be imported into CAS collections database and linked to their corresponding images. Results from this project will mark a major step forward in democratizing CAS museum collections, providing equitable access to these important specimens for people (botanists, scientists, and the general public) all over the world.

Reporting to the Botany Curator, the California Herbarium Specimen Digitization Project Curatorial Assistant II will be primarily responsible for assisting in the transition of the collection from a partially imaged to fully imaged state, as well as contributing to the reorganization of the collection. The Project Curatorial Assistant II will perform important rearrangement, sorting and separating of specimens into a new, updated schema. This work will involve assisting in the development and implementation of workflows to ensure specimen organization is of the highest quality and effectiveness. The Project Curatorial Assistant II will coordinate with the Botany Curator and Collection Manager to ensure all collection organization goals are met, as well as coordinate with other collections staff in order to maximize quality control efforts and data flow efficiency.

Organizational Culture
Join a team dedicated to the Academy’s mission, vision and values! Currently, the Academy has a new strategic plan including three initiatives – Hope for Reefs, Thriving California, and Islands 2030 – that leverage biodiversity science, environmental learning, and collaborative engagement to regenerate fragile ecosystems around the world. Learn more at https://www.calacademy.org/about-us/major-initiatives.

We hope you are inspired by what we do and are excited to contribute to our mission. The mission of the California Academy of Sciences is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. The Academy is looking for candidates who do great work, and we know they may come from a number of different backgrounds and experiences. We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every qualification for the position.

This position is based in San Francisco, California. The specific onsite/hybrid schedule for this position is listed below. This position is part of a bargaining unit represented by Cal Academy Workers United, and will be subject to the terms and conditions of that contract.

Key Responsibilities:

• Work with the Botany Curator and Collection Manager to identify the special needs and requirements for reorganizing and rearranging the collection
• Work with the Collection Manager and other Curatorial Assistants to identify the best approach to associated project tasks
• Develop, test, implement and modify (as needed) workflows that will achieve project-specific specimen organization
• Follow all Academy safety regulations 
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications: A successful candidate will have the following:

A qualified person for this position has experience with biological collections (preferably botanical), taxonomy and the basic use/implementation of taxonomy, and is extremely organized and detail oriented. This person is capable of performing repetitive tasks that adhere to strict organizational requirements and should be able to think ahead to identify possible problems and develop solutions in a collaborative and communicative manner.

Experience and/or Education:

• Undergraduate degree required
• Experience with biological collections required (botanical preferred)
• Knowledge of taxonomy and the use/implementation of biological classification (botanical preferred)
• Experience and/or past participation in large scale projects that require a large amount of detailed preparation

Skills and abilities:

• Excellent organizational and time-management skills
• Ability to execute work independently and with great attention to detail
• Ability to take direction, work as part of a team or collaborate well with team members, and external partners (when applicable) to accomplish mutual goals
• Ability to work efficiently and communicate with staff, cross-functional teams and external partners from different backgrounds and with varying expertise
• Ability to bring new ideas, create inventive solutions and find efficiencies to transform manual or detailed processes

English is the primary language necessary for this job, written and spoken; bilingual (spoken and/or written) in Spanish or other non-English language a plus, but not necessary

Physical Environment:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. While performing the duties of this job, the Project Curatorial Assistant II is required to stand, sit, use a computer, and communicate on the phone, in person, and online meetings/calls. Must be able to perform repetitive motions 30% of the time.

Compensation and Benefits:
The salary range for this position is $33.16. Actual compensation will be commensurate with the final candidate's qualifications and experience, including skills, knowledge, relevant education, certifications and aligned with the internal peer group. We believe in fair and equitable compensation practices and are committed to providing competitive salaries within the industry and market standards. The Academy offers a total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits based on the hours per week worked. Further details regarding compensation and benefits will be discussed during the interview process.

Schedule: Full-Time, 40 hours per week, On-site

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit a resume and application through our Careers Page portal.

The California Academy of Sciences will give full consideration for employment to all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance (SF Police Code, Article 49).