Research Ecologist

Job Description (Please follow all instructions carefully)

Summary

What General Information Do I Need to Know About This Position?

Salary : First time hires to the Federal Government are typically hired at the Step 01.
GS-13: $114,970 (Step 01) to $149,465 (Step 10)

Open to current or former Federal employees via this link:

This job is open to

Duties

As a Research Ecologist (Avian) within the Fort Collins Science Center, some of your specific duties will include:

Work within a multi-disciplinary setting with other research scientists at the USGS (FORT) to address landscape-scale questions dealing with bird populations, habitats, and land use. Work closely with local, State, and Federal (e.g., US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service) wildlife personnel to address applied scientific research questions of management priority. Conduct avian ecology research and create management questions in collaboration with other scientists and managers in order to investigate broad-scale changes to avian populations. This includes developing research; securing research funds; setting up experiments; hiring and training technicians; collecting field data; and using advanced statistical and empirical modeling approaches to analyze and publish research results. This information will be used to develop decision support tools for planning and implementation of management, conservation, and restoration activities. Operate a government vehicle as an incidental driver.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Key Requirements:

Applicants must be U.S. Citizens. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information. Selectee must provide a valid state driver's license & safe driving record. Selectee subject to successful completion of a pre-employment medical exam. Are There Any Special Requirements for This Position? Taking and passing a pre-employment medical examination at Federal expense is required due to the physical demands of this job. You will be required to operate a government-owned or leased vehicle in the performance of your official duties. Applicants for this position must meet the following requirements: (1) possess a valid State license, and (2) possess a safe driving record. If selected, you will be required to provide proof of a valid State license & a copy of your driving record. Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued. A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

Undergraduate Education : A year of undergraduate education is 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours or the equivalent of college study. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent was a prerequisite.

Graduate Education : In the absence of specific graduate program information, a year of graduate education is 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours of graduate level college course work, or the number of credit hours the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university.

Experience : One year of work experience is twelve months working full-time (at least 35-40 hours per week). Part-time experience can be pro-rated (i.e., a year at 20 hours per week is credited as 6 months of experience). If your position consisted of mixed duties, experience credit is given for the percentage of time that you spent on qualifying duties (i.e., if you held a position for 2 years, full-time, consisting of 25% personnel work and 75% budget work, and then applied for a budget position you could calculate your experience as follows: 2 yrs = 24 months. 24 months x 75% [percentage of time spent on budget duties] = 18 months of qualifying experience.)

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT FOR ECOLOGIST, GS-0408 :

Applicants must meet the Basic Education Requirement below:

Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in biology or a related field of science underlying ecological research that included at least 30 semester hours or the equivalent in basic and applied biological sciences. These hours must have included at least 9 semester hours or the equivalent in ecology, and 12 semester hours or the equivalent in physical and mathematical sciences.

For GS-13:

In addition to the basic education requirement as stated above, applicants must possess at least one year of appropriate professional experience, that is equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in the Federal service, and has equipped them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position. Examples of specialized experience may include:

Working within a multi-disciplinary, collaborative setting with other research scientists to address landscape-scale questions dealing with bird populations, bird habitats, and land use and climate change; Conducting avian ecology research addressing management questions to investigate broad-scale changes to avian populations. This experience includes developing research ideas, securing research funds, setting up field experiments, hiring and training technicians, collecting field data on wild birds, and using advanced statistical modeling approaches to analyze and publish research results; Working with a variety of stakeholders including local, State, and Federal wildlife personnel to address applied scientific research questions of avian management priority; and Using scientific information to develop decision support tools for planning and implementation of avian management, conservation, and/or restoration activities. You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Education

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.

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