Ecologist

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Time in grade: Applicants must have one year at the next lower grade to be considered for the next higher grade (e.g. one year at the GS-09 grade level for consideration for the GS-11 grade level). Basic Education Requirements: Degree: Biology, or a related field of science underlying ecological research that included at least 30 semester hours in basic and applied biological sciences. These hours must have included at least 9 semester hours in ecology, and 12 semester hours in physical and mathematical sciences. Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: GS-09: Qualifying experience for GS-09 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-07 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience performing research-related tasks in agroecosystems; performing complex laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments and assisting with literature searches and manuscript preparation. OR Education: Two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master’s degree or master’s or equivalent graduate degree, if directly related. Related degrees may include: Ecology, Biology, Plant Science, Soil Science, Agriculture. OR A qualifying combination of specialized experience and graduate level education as described above. GS-11: Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience planning, organizing and performing complex laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments; preparing graphical and tabular summarizations of data for progress reports and scientific articles and providing geographic information systems (GIS) support to the agroecosystem research team. OR Education: Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, if related. Related degrees may include: Ecology, Biology, Plant Science, Soil Science, Agriculture. OR A qualifying combination of graduate level education and specialized experience as described above. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
This position is located at the Natural Resources Management Research, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in Mandan, ND. In this position you will perform research related tasks in agroecosystems, through the use of field, greenhouse and laboratory experiments.