Biological Science Technician (Plants)

Duties

• Collects biological and vegetation specimens and samples. Is responsible for the accumulation, coding, transcription and processing of information, editing and correcting records, and providing quality control of automatic data processing entries.
• Tabulates results and prepares graphs and charts according to instructions. Assists in the design of new plant projects. Lays out experimental plots by taking measurements and marking corners and boundaries.
• Uses botanical key to identify plants encountered during field trips or surveys of forest areas.
• Compiles and summarizes the vegetation types obtained from aerial and ground surveys including forest health monitoring, biological evaluations, and pilot tests conducted as part of the project.
• Participates and conducts a variety of field studies of native and non-native botanical species and their habitats. Collects data for use in habitat and species condition analyses.
• Collects survey and inventory data to determine species identity, population characteristics, environmental conditions, and factors affecting the vigor and extent of the species and their habitat.
• Keeps records of all data and produces maps of survey areas. Lays out monitoring plots by taking measurements and marking corners and boundaries.
• Compiles and summarizes the data obtained from surveys, inventories, biological evaluations, and monitoring. Uses computer systems and associated software for recording, organizing, storing, and analyzing data.
• Performs native plant, pollinators, and phenology surveys. Carries out pollinator habitat enhancement, tends restoration gardens and other ecological restoration duties.
• Performs other ecological restoration duties such as planting, seed collection and cleaning, weeding, irrigation of past plantings, or native plant nursery work.
• Performs the full range of standard technical assignments consisting of a variety of tasks involving invasive non-native plant treatment, management, inventory, and monitoring.
• Assignments involve the performance of a series of basic related technical tasks, which must be completed according to a predetermined and established routine.
• May also perform a variety of nonstandard tasks related to invasive non-native plant treatment, management, inventory, and monitoring.
• Identifies invasive non-native plants using various field guides or botanical keys, surveys for target plants, collects and assesses data on infestation location and status, and treats invasive plant infestations.
• Treatments primarily involve using herbicides, but may also be accomplished by hand-pulling, or using hand tools, power tools, mowers, and other standard control methods.
• Collects and records data related to infestation location and status. Responsible for ensuring that data related to invasive non-native plant treatments is recorded accurately and legibly, and according to specific protocols.
• Performs highly physical labor and daily hiking often to remote locations in rugged terrain under possible adverse weather conditions.
• Uses global positioning systems, aerial photographs, topographic maps, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), or compass in navigation. A portion of time may be dedicated to data entry and other duties in a laboratory or office setting.
• Applies herbicides using backpack sprayers or other equipment on a regular basis according to specific guidelines. Performs basic mathematical calculations related to herbicide mixing and applications.
• Uses appropriate personal protective equipment supplied by the Forest Service at all times. May identify, collect, and release appropriate insects (biological control) to achieve desired objectives.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Direct Deposit Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choosing.
• Must be 18 years of age.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-Verify.
• For duties involving noxious weed control, incumbent may have to obtain a state herbicide applicator’s license within 120 days of appointment and complete ongoing training to maintain the license.

How You Will Be Evaluated

• Benefits

  A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

  Review our benefits

  Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

• Required Documents

  As a new or existing federal employee, you and your family may have access to a range of benefits. Your benefits depend on the type of position you have - whether you're a permanent, part-time, temporary or an intermittent employee. You may be eligible for the following benefits, however, check with your agency to make sure you're eligible under their policies.

  The following documents are required for your applicant package to be complete. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, illegible fax transmissions, delays in the mail service, your system failure, etc. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration.
  
  Resume that includes: 1) personal information such as name, address, contact information; 2) education; 3) detailed work experience related to this position as described in the responsibilities section including work schedule, hours worked per week, dates of employment (day/month/year); title, series, grade (if applicable); 4) supervisor's phone number and whether or not the supervisor may be contacted for a reference check; 5) other qualifications.
  
  If education is required or you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts that include your name along with the name of the Institution. An unofficial copy is sufficient with the application; however, if you are selected, you will be required to submit official transcripts prior to entering on duty. Education must have been successfully obtained from an accredited school, college or university. If any education was completed at a foreign institute, you must submit with your application evidence that the institute was appropriately accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as equivalent to U.S. education standards. There are private organizations that specialize in this evaluation and a fee is normally associated with this service. All transcripts must be in English or include an English translation.
  
  Surplus or displaced employees eligible for CTAP or ICTAP priority must provide: proof of eligibility (RIF separation notice, notice of proposed removal for declining a transfer of function or directed reassignment to another commuting area, notice of disability annuity termination), SF-50 documenting separation (as applicable), and your most recent SF-50 noting position, grade level, and duty location with your application per 5 CFR 330.
  
  Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

  If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

  Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

  Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

• How to Apply

  Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process.
  
  Read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement.
  
  Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. (MST), Monday - Friday. If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be returned to Human Resources no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order for it to be entered into the system prior to the closing date.
  
  This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Contact the Agency Contact to request this.
  
  To begin, in USAJOBS click "Apply" and follow the instructions to attach your resume and supporting documents, complete the assessment questionnaire, and submit your application.
  
  NOTE: If a document is resubmitted, it replaces the previous submission, which means the previous document is no longer available to the Human Resources Office. If you are adding to, rather than replacing a previous submission, you must upload both the old document and the new document. You must verify that uploaded documents from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Applicants may combine all like required documents (e.g. SF-50s or veteran docs) into one or more files and scan for uploading into the application. Each file must not exceed 3MB. Grouping like documents into files will simplify the application process. Documents must be in one of the following formats: GIF, JPEG, JPG, PDF, PNG, RTF, or Word (DOC or DOCX). Uploaded documents may not require a password, digital signature, or other encryption to open.

  Agency contact information

  HRM Contact Center

  Phone

  1-877-372-7248 X2

  Email

  HRM_Contact_Center@usda.gov

  Address

  USDA Forest Service HRM Contact Center
  DO NOT MAIL IN APPLICATIONS, SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT
  Albuquerque, NM 87109
  US

  Next steps

  Your application will be reviewed to verify that you meet the eligibility and qualification requirements for the position prior to issuing referral lists to the selecting official. If further evaluation or interviews are required, you will be contacted. Log in to your USAJOBS account to check your application status.
  
  You must choose to turn on email notifications in your USAJOBS profile if you want to receive important email notifications that may impact your applicant experience (e.g. If you start an application and do not submit it prior to the closing date, USAJOBS will send an email reminder that the closing date is approaching and your application is in an incomplete status).
  
  Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
  

• Fair and Transparent

  The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.

  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
  • Reasonable accommodation policy
  • Financial suitability
  • Selective Service
  • New employee probationary period
  • Signature and false statements
  • Privacy Act
  • Social security number request

Required Documents