Ecologist

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-11/21/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either “full-time” (or “40 hours a week”) or “part-time” with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. Basic Requirement: Possess a degree in 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. Minimum Qualifications: SELECTIVE FACTOR: This position performs duties which require ability to visit site locations which require the existence of this position (MVO) requires a driver’s license at the time of appointment, must be able to maintain during employment. Candidates who do not meet this requirement by close of this announcement will receive no further consideration for this position. – AND – To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE GS-07: At least one full 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: collecting ecological field data using standard operating procedures and protocols, processing biological samples in the lab, conducting data entry of ecological data in computer databases, and performing basic data analysis following standard operating procedures. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first determine the applicant’s total qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then determine the applicant’s experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; finally, add the two percentages. 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 transcripts. Superior Academic Achievement (SAA): Successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in a directly related field AND meet one of the following: (1) Class Standing: rank in the upper 3rd of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, based on the completed courses; OR (2) Grad-Point Average (GPA): earn a GPA of (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 (“B” or better) based on 4 years of education, or based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum -or- (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 (“B” or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field, or the required courses completed during the final two years. Note: GPA will be rounded to the one decimal place, for example, 2.95 = 3.0, 2.94 = 2.9; OR (3) Membership in a National Scholastic Honor Society. To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement: EXPERIENCE GS-09: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-07 in ecological research or monitoring. Specialized experience includes: leading ecological field data collection using standard operating procedures or protocols, assisting with planning, organizing or implementing ecological monitoring or research, performing higher-level data analysis to answer ecological management or research questions, interpretation of data analysis, writing portions of reports, publications, or plans, conducting quality assurance of data during data collection and data entry. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least 2 years of progressively higher graduate-level education leading to a master’s degree or master’s or equivalent graduate degree You must include transcripts. -OR- Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first determine the applicant’s total qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then determine the applicant’s experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; finally, add the two percentages. 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 transcripts. CTAP/ICTAP: CTAP/ICTAP provides placement assistance to permanent Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated. Applicants claiming CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit a copy of their most recent performance appraisal, proof of eligibility, and most current SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with their application. To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, applicants must be well-qualified (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), score at least 85 on the assessment questionnaire, and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry. If you are applying under CTAP or ICTAP, you MUST submit proof of eligibility under 5 CFR 330.602(a) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of your most recent performance rating, and a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) showing your position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP or ICTAP eligible. For information on CTAP and ICTAP visit: USAJOBS Help Center | Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL) 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.
This position is a technical advisor in ecology for one or more parks to apply a systems approach to the study and analysis of organisms and ecological relationships. The ecologist is responsible for program development and implementation located in Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network, in the MW Division. Open to the first 75 applicants or until 11/21/2024 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.