Geophysicist

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

This position is being advertised concurrently with the following announcement:

Open to all U.S. citizens under: USGS-DEN-24-12251753-DE-MDB

Qualifications:

Definitions:

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.)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.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Geophysicist, all grade levels.

A. Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included at least 30 semester hours in mathematics (including calculus) and the physical sciences (geophysics, physics, engineering, geology, astronomy, meteorology, electronics, etc.). **OR

B. A combination of education and experience -- at least 30 semester hours in mathematics (including calculus) and the physical sciences (geophysics, physics, engineering, geology, astronomy, meteorology, electronics, etc.), plus appropriate experience and/or additional education for a total of 4 years. The education or combined education and experience must be comparable in type, scope and thoroughness to that acquired through successful completion of a 4-year course of study as described in "A" above. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE)

For GS-07:

In addition to the basic education requirement as stated above, applicants must meet one of the following to qualify for the GS-07 level:

1 year of successfully completed graduate level education (18 semester hours, 27 quarter hours or the equivalent) in geophysics or other directly related field of study if it provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

**OR Superior Academic Achievement based on undergraduate study. (CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT).

**OR one year of appropriate professional experience that is in or related to the duties of this position is qualifying if it is equivalent in level of difficulty and responsibility to at least the GS-5 level in the Federal service, and if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position.

Examples of GS-5 level experience could include handling various types of sensitive instruments used in the measurement of geophysical phenomena, recording readings or measurements, and performing mathematical computations. This work experience would have involved receiving clear, specific, and detailed instructions as to the methods, procedures, and guidelines to use and would have required a knowledge of the basic principles and techniques of geophysics or physics, and mathematics.

**OR a combination of successfully completed graduate level education, as described above, and professional experience, as described above. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE GRADUATE EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE)

For GS-09:

In addition to the basic education requirement as stated above, applicants must meet one of the following to qualify for the GS-09 level:

2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education (36 semester hours, 54 quarter hours or the equivalent) leading to a master's degree in geophysics or other directly related field of study or master's or equivalent graduate degree in geophysics or other directly related field of study if it provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.

**OR one year of appropriate professional experience in geophysics that is equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal service.

Examples of such experience include performing a variety of observations, computations, compilations and analyses in assisting higher level Geophysicists in carrying out geophysical assignments. This work experience would have involved following established methods and procedures, or detailed instructions; using some judgment in applying basic principles and procedures, and would have required a good general working knowledge of the principles and the theories of geophysics or physics, and mathematics and a good knowledge of the methods and techniques involved in the investigation and measurement of geophysical phenomena.

**OR a combination of successfully completed progressive graduate level education as described above that is beyond the first year of graduate study and professional experience, as described above. (CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO COMBINE GRADUATE EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE)

You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement.

Responsibilities:

As a Geophysicist within the Geologic Hazards Science Center, some of your specific duties will include:

• Works on a team of 24/7 on-duty seismologists to quickly locate and compute hypocenters, magnitudes, and other parameters for significant earthquakes throughout the world using interactive computer systems.
• Disseminates information to millions of recipients, including disaster relief agencies, government agencies, the press, and the public. Answers verbal and written questions from the press and public questions about earthquakes and tectonics.
• Contributes to frontline volcano monitoring. This duty involves shift work outside standard business hours. Initial post will be night shift, 11:00 pm to 7:00 am Thursday to Monday.
• Works as part of a team to produce the USGS earthquake catalog. Interprets digital seismograms from the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) and other seismic networks, for phase arrival identification, onset time, and amplitude.
• Evaluates suitability of phase arrival waveforms for computation of earthquake location, magnitude, and other source parameters.
• Analyzes and evaluates earthquake locations, magnitudes, and other source parameters using semi-automated computer programs for accuracy and reliability and makes decisions on what computations are of sufficient quality to be published in seismological data reports.
• Research and documents information about earthquake damage and other societal effects from recent earthquakes from the media, humanitarian relief agencies, and government agencies.
• Assists research staff by gathering earthquake data and/or performing basic data analysis.