Interdisciplinary Research Ecologist / Wildlife Biologist (Assistant Unit Leader)

DEFINITIONS: 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 years = 24 months. 24 months x 75% [percentage of time spent on budget duties] = 18 months of qualifying experience.) BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS: This position is interdisciplinary and may be filled with either of the occupational job series listed below. You must meet the educational requirements of at least one of these occupational series, in addition to the Ph.D. and specialized experience requirements listed below, in order to be considered for this position. Basic Education for Research Ecologist, GS-0408: Applicants must meet the following to satisfy the basic education requirement for Ecologist, all grade levels. 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. Basic Education for Research Wildlife Biologist, GS-0486: Applicants must meet the following to satisfy the basic education requirement for Research Wildlife Biologist, all grade levels. Research positions: Degree with major in wildlife biology, zoology, or botany that included at least 30 semester hours of course work in biological science and 15 semester hours in the physical, mathematical, and earth sciences. This course work must have included: At least 9 semester hours of training applicable to wildlife biology in such subjects as mammalogy, ornithology, animal ecology, wildlife management, principles of population dynamics, or related course work in the field of wildlife biology; and At least 12 semester hours in zoological subjects such as invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy of the vertebrates, embryology, animal physiology, entomology, herpetology, parasitology, and genetics; and At least 9 semester hours in the field of botany and related plant science; and At least 15 semester hours of training in any combination of two or more of the following: chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics, soils, and/or geology. Ph.D. REQUIREMENT: You must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in wildlife or fish science or a closely related field of study appropriate for this position. To verify the Ph.D. requirement, transcripts or verification from the university registrar must be submitted that clearly state: Ph.D. awarded, major and date of conferral. Failure to provide this information will result in your application receiving no further consideration. QUALITY RANKING FACTOR: This vacancy announcement has a Quality Ranking Factor. Possession of the following factor is not required in order to meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants who possess this factor may be ranked above those who do not: Possession of a (1) A Ph.D. that is directly related to the field of study necessary for this position, which includes specific experience in wildlife ecology and management within wetland ecosystems; assessing spatial, community and population dynamics; ecological patterns and processes at landscape scales; large scale field research; analyzing existing large data sets and using emerging statistical and modeling techniques (hierarchical and Bayesian models). GS-13 SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT: Applicants must possess at least one year of appropriate professional experience that is in or directly related to the duties of the position to be filled and is equivalent to at least the GS-12 level in Federal service in order to be found qualified for this grade level. This experience must have equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and involved conducting applied research focused on wetland ecology to inform the management and conservation of aquatic and semi-aquatic species and their communities. Examples of such experience include: Develop and fund an applied research program that complements existing faculty and staff expertise, and focused on management of wildlife taxa within wetland systems that may include studies at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic systems; Work collaboratively across disciplines from local to landscape spatial scales with state, federal and university research scientists to conduct science that addresses priority fish and wildlife management and conservation questions; Mentor and teach graduate-level students in field of wetland ecology, quantitative ecology, or related topics; Work with both focused field-collected data and integrating existing large datasets to answer cooperator driven questions; Work with land managers, decision makers, and stakeholders to develop and apply research and technical assistance in relevant decision contexts; Secure and manage competitive extramural grants leading to a diverse funding portfolio and production of applied scholarly work; and facilitate collaborative research or adapt research program to meet the needs of the cooperators if/when priorities change or new initiatives occur. You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.
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-12: $86,962 (Step 01) to $113,047 (Step 10) GS-13: $103,409 (Step 01) to $134,435 (Step 10)