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Biologist

Department of the Interior
Geological Survey
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
This job announcement has closed

Summary

What General Information Do I Need To Know About this position?

  • Salary: $64,009 (Step 01) to $83,210 (Step 10); NOTE: First time hires to the Federal Government are typically hired at the Step 01.
  • This is a term appointment not to exceed 13 months with possible extensions up to a total of 4 years without further competition. Appointment to this position will not convey permanent status in the Federal service.

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
07/30/2020 to 08/06/2020
Salary
$64,009 to - $83,210 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Rapid City, SD
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Term
Work schedule
Full-Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
USGS-RES-20-10843229-DHA-DG
Control number
572321500

Duties

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As a Biologist within the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, some of your specific duties will include:

  • Work with Center scientists on all aspects of the second phase of the Annual Brome Adaptive Management project (ABAM).
  • Analyze and interpret published literature and appropriate data related to management of invasive annual brome grasses in the northern Great Plains.
  • Have primary responsibility for developing, refining, and packaging R scripts to accomplish the objectives of ABAM. This requires working with both R and ArcGIS.
  • Work frequently with ABAM partners in the National Park Service (NPS) to develop a new vegetation management tracking database and integrate it with existing vegetation monitoring databases.
  • Communicate regularly with NPS scientists and managers; present results from the ABAM model in a fashion easily understood and used by NPS managers.
  • Work with Center scientists and NPS science communication and interpretation specialists to produce products to inform the general public about the ABAM project and invasive plant species in general.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Key Requirements:

  1. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens.
  2. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation.
  3. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period.
  4. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information.
Additional Requirements
  • The government wide direct hire authority for Biologist, GS-0401 is being used to fill this position.
  • A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination.
  • Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system.

Qualifications

Basic Education Requirement:Applicants must meet A or B below to satisfy the basic education requirement for Biologist, all grade levels.

A. Degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. *OR*

B. Combination of education and experience--courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above (24 semester hours or the equivalent in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position), 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-11:

In addition to the basic education requirements as stated above, applicants must meet one of the following:

One year of specialized experience at or equal to the next lower grade level. Examples of experience at the GS-09 level work may include: 1) participation in the planning and execution of biological studies with limited number of variables; 2) performing established, standardized tests and analyses on a broad range of biological samples; 3) conducting biological studies using established fact finding procedures. For examples 1-3, assignments were made with the objectives, priorities, and deadlines defined. The work was planned and carried out independently in accordance with proven techniques, methods, and practices. Controversial use of approaches or modifications of standard procedures were typically discussed with a designated person before being carried out.

**OR Three full years of progressively higher level directly related graduate level education or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a directly related field of study.

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

Education

  • 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.
  • Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: https://www.usgs.gov/about/organization/science-support/human-capital/how-foreign-education-evaluated-federal-jobs .

Additional information

Other Information:

  • Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.
  • Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs. Agencies are permitted to hire non-citizens only in very limited circumstances where there are no qualified citizens available for the position.
  • USGS employees are subject to Title 43, USC Section 31(a) and may not: (a) have any personal, private, direct or indirect interest in lands or mineral wealth of lands under survey; (b) have any substantial personal, private, direct or indirect interests in any private mining or mineral enterprise doing business with the United States; or (c) execute surveys or examinations for private parties or corporations.
  • The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361.
  • DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.
  • THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.
Agency Benefits:

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

--Basis of Rating: The government-widedirect hire authority for Biologist, GS-0401 is being used to fill this position. All applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and minimum qualification requirements will be referred for consideration.

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