Bat Biologist

What a Day in the Life Looks Like

As a full-time Bat Biologist and Ecologist with Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC), you’ll work with project teams on bat presence/absence mist-net and acoustic surveys, radio-tracking, emergence surveys, and habitat assessments. You’ll independently lead a two-person crew and conduct surveys for federally- and state-listed bat species east of the Rockies. Depending on your interest, you may also find yourself involved in analyzing bat call recordings, producing findings reports, proposal efforts, working directly with clients, and other ecological opportunities. This position can be based out of our Buffalo (NY), Columbus (OH), Indianapolis (IN), Monroeville (PA), Nashville (TN), Pittsburgh (PA), or St. Louis (MO) office, so check our website (https://careers-cecinc.icims.com/jobs/search?ss=1&hashed=-435590593) and, if you haven’t already, be sure to apply at the location of your preference.

What Makes CEC Different

As a Bat Biologist/Ecologist at CEC, you are in charge of your career trajectory. You will have the opportunity to manage projects and staff, if and when you are ready to do so. We are constantly trying to promote from within and balance the needs of our clients along with those of our employees. We want you to be involved in landing the types of projects you desire. We know bat survey season is a busy time; but we do our best to not burn out our bat biologists during the field season and are trying to grow the team even more to further help alleviate this. We already have several multi-faceted bat survey projects on the books for 2024.

What You’ll Need for Success

This position is ideal for a detail-oriented, motivated, and enthusiastic biologist who enjoys working outdoors with like-minded individuals on a variety of projects in a wide range of settings.

Specifically, you’ll need the following:

• Possession of a valid Federal Scientific Collecting Permit (or currently sub-permitted) to conduct surveys for federally listed bat species (Indiana, northern long-eared, and/or gray bats) or have the qualifications to be added to CEC’s Permit;
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a natural sciences field (e.g., Wildlife Biology, Environmental Sciences, Ecology);
• Experience leading mist-netting survey crews, including identifying and establishing good survey sites and handling and identifying bats of the eastern U.S.;
• Experience setting bat acoustic detectors for survey and data download;
• Ability to maintain a positive attitude while working with others and conducting fieldwork with changing schedules due to weather and/or bat captures on other projects;
• Possession of a valid driver’s license.

Other Experience to Offset the Daily

CEC Ecologists are into more than just bats and we would love to see you working in other disciplines too even during the summer bat season. Therefore, in your application, please identify other relevant ecological/ permitting interests or experience that could be considered during review of your application. Examples of things that CEC currently does are: NEPA document production, ESA Section 7/10 consultation including Biological Assessment (BA) and Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) preparation, waters delineations, avian surveys, botanical surveys, archaeological surveys, herpetological surveys, mussel surveys, or other listed species assessments.

Benefits of Employment at CEC

We have fun! Many of our team develop deep friendships and hang out after work. Our offices each have their own unique cultures. Each office has social committees which focus on increasing and improving interaction amongst our employees. We have a variety of Employee Resource Groups, such as CEC Fit – focused on health and wellness; CEC Community – focused on giving back to the communities in which we work; CEC Ignite – focused on helping professionals early in their careers develop their pathway; CEC iDEA – focused on inclusion, diversity, equality, and acceptance; CECW focused on women in their careers, and more! We are focused on having a great day at work over just having a day at work.

We have experts! CEC is consistently ranked as an ENR Top 500 Design Firm. We are looking for people who enjoy using their education and experience to solve difficult technical problems and perform interesting projects. You can accomplish this while working with a team of professionals who are equally motivated to provide high levels of service to our clients and to teach you along the way. As part of a team of over 130 ecologists nation-wide, you will have a chance to learn from expert wetland scientists, bat, bird, and fisheries biologists, botanists, ecosystem restoration ecologists, NEPA practitioners, and more!

We care about our people! People and Culture are two of the five elements of our strategic plan. When you care about your people, they will want to grow a career with you – that is our goal. CEC offers you a small firm work environment with large firm opportunities. Not only will we help you develop professionally, but will also provide an opportunity to become an owner of the firm and share in its success within your first full year of employment. We offer a matching 401(k), profit sharing, a performance bonus, company stock, medical dental and vision insurance, short and long term disability, tuition assistance, professional development, and work life balance. If this sounds like the right opportunity for you, simply respond to the ad in a location that works for you.