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SEASONAL Biological Science Technician (Multiple Specialties)

Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Pacific West Region (Interior Regions 8,9,10 and 12) - Multiple Parks

Summary

The typical seasonal period varies based on location and can be variable during these months due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding.

Open to the first 450 applicants or until 01/19/2026 whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

Overview

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Open & closing dates
01/05/2026 to 01/19/2026
This job will close when we have received 450 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Salary
$21.54 to - $38.74 per hour
Pay scale & grade
GS 6 - 8
Locations
Kings Canyon National Park, CA
18 vacancies
Mammoth Lakes, CA
4 vacancies
Manzanita Lake, CA
1 vacancy
Mineral, CA
6 vacancies
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
75% or less - The amount of travel varies with the location.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Temporary - Not to Exceed: 1039 Hours
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
None
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
PW-1545-SR-26-12834698-DE
Control number
852949800

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Under this announcement we are accepting applications from 1. All United States citizens 2. CTAP/ICTAP Eligibles.

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Duties

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The following working season is from APR-OCT: OLYM - LABE - WHMI - BIHO - PORE - YOSE - MORA - REDW - CRLA - WHIS - LEWI - CRMO - PINN - the Sierra Nevada Network (SIEN)--YOSE/SEKI and the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN)--Asford, WA/OLYM.

The following working season is from MAR-SEP: GOGA

The following is from MAY-NOV: SEKI - NOCA - GRBA - LAVO

And the following is from JUN-DEC: HALE

Major Duties:

  • Performs technician work that is supportive of professionals in resource management (i.e. Biologists, Ecologists, etc.).
  • These positions participate in resource management tasks associated with a variety of emphasis areas such as vegetation management, wildlife management, fisheries, and/or habitat management. Specific duties will vary by park location.
  • Implements natural resource management projects following established procedures. Collects and organizes field data, ensuring quality control of data or collected samples. Provides assessment and classification of data.
In addition, GS 07 Duties
  • Assists in the preparation of reports, plans, and guidelines related to resource management projects.
  • Provides logistical support for resource management projects. as well as volunteers or lower graded technicians.
In addition, GS 08 Duties
  • Provides advice, assistance, and training to students,
  • Uses a variety of computer programs to compile, reduce, store, retrieve, analyze, and report data and other resource management information. Uses a wide variety of specialized equipment to carry out resource management projects.
Physical Demands: The work requires regular physical exertion such as walking or climbing over wet, rough, uneven and/or rocky surfaces; bending, crouching, stooping, or reaching to observe, collect and/or record field data; or in some situations the work may require physical exertion to handle wild animals, prepare soil for planting, camp overnight in backcountry locations, to scuba dive or operate a boat (varies by location). Heavy items, such as equipment packs weighing up to 50 pounds, must be lifted and carried on a regular basis. May be required to hike several miles in a day.

Working Conditions: The work is performed in an office, laboratory, and in a field environment. The work performed in the field involves regular and recurring exposure to extreme weather conditions and terrain, poisonous plants, biting insects and wild animals. Some positions require the use of chemicals (for example, pesticides/herbicides to control invasive plants or chemical treatments for invasive aquatic species). The employee is required to follow all safety procedures based on the task being carried out which may require use protective clothing/gear such as gowns, coats, boots, goggles, gloves, etc.?

SEKI--Poor air quality afflicts Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, especially during summer months - generally May to October. High ozone levels may be the most harmful pollutant here. In summer months, concentrations often exceed the federal ozone health standards. For more information: http://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/airqualityinfo.htm.

ICTAP/CTAP: Current surplus and current or former displaced Federal individuals who have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified means that the applicant meets the following: OPM qualification standards for the position; all selective placement factors, where applicable; special qualifying conditions that OPM has approved for the position, where applicable; is physically qualified with reasonable accommodation, where appropriate to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position upon entry; and is rated by the organization at least at the well qualified level on all competencies. Federal employees seeking CTAP/ICTAP eligibility must submit proof that they meet the requirements of 5 CFR 330.605(2) for CTAP and 5 CFR 330.704 for ICTAP. This includes a copy of the agency notice, a copy of their most recent Performance Rating, and a copy of their most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP/ICTAP eligible. If you are selected for Federal employment, you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Federal Employment, OF-306, prior to being appointed to determine your suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. Failing to answer all questions truthfully and completely or providing false statements on your application may be grounds for not hiring you, or for firing you after you begin work. Also, you may be punished by fine or imprisonment (U.S. Code, Title 18, section 1001).

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • U.S. Citizenship required.
  • Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
  • Meet Selective Service Registration Act requirement for males.
  • Selectee will be required to participate in the Direct Deposit Electronics Funds Transfer Program.
  • At OLYM, LAVO, CRLA, REDW, HALE, SEKI, MORA, NOCA, GRBA, WHIS, GOGA, LEWI, YOSE, LABE, PORE, you may be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties. Prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year thereafter (or more frequently if management determines such need exists), you will be required to sign an affidavit certifying to your possession of a valid State issued driver's license that is current and has not been revoked, suspended, canceled, or otherwise disqualified in any way to prohibit your operation of a motor vehicle. You will also submit a photocopy of your valid State issued driver's license prior to your first official motor vehicle operation, and again every year, or more frequently if management determines such need exists. Lastly, you may be required to submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that discloses all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you. Please indicate in your application whether you possess a valid State driver's license.
  • For NCCN, LAVO Plants, PINN, OLYM Insects, WHMI, BIHO, you will be required to operate a government (or private) motor vehicle as part of your official duties; a valid driver's license is required. You will be required to submit a Motor Vehicle Operator's License and Driving Record. You must also submit (within a State sealed envelope or submitted directly by the State authorities), and at your own expense, all certified driving records from all States that disclose all valid driver's licenses, whether current or past, possessed by you.
  • At CRLA, HALE, NCCN-OLYM, MORA, GRBA, SEKI plants, LAVO, WHIS, GOGA, LEWI, CRMO, PINN, LABE, WHMI, BIHO, PORE, you will be required to wear a uniform and comply with the National Park Service uniform standards. A uniform allowance will be provided.
  • Travel, transportation & relocation expenses will not be paid. Relocation expenses will be the employee's responsibility.

Qualifications

Requirements Continued...

  • You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. Overtime is required for: OLYM Fisheries, CRLA, GRBA, MORA, SEKI WHIS, YOSE Plants, NCCN land birds. NOCA is advertising for multiple schedules.
  • You may be required to travel overnight away from home up to 18 nights per month. Request specific information during interview.
  • Employment may be terminated at any time due to fluctuations in funding levels, project needs, employee performance, or other considerations.
  • Air Quality JOTR--During the summer when temperatures soar, air quality may be poor. Please use caution and check our Live Weather & Air Quality Data page. During the fall and winter months, air quality is generally good.
  • The island of Hawaii is subject to high concentrations of volcanic fumes (VOG), especially sulfur dioxide gasses and fine particulates. The fumes are known to be hazardous to an unborn fetus, and persons with heart and respiratory problems. The coastline primarily experiences VOG conditions throughout the year, and occasionally eastern Hawaii Island and other Hawaiian islands. Long-term effects on normal healthy persons are unknown.
  • The National Park Service has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster.
All qualifications must be met by 11:59 (EST) when applicant limit is reached which may be before the closing date of this announcement-01/19/2026-.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

To qualify for this position at the GS-06 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as following instructions and standardized procedures; Identifying, collecting and organizing wildlife/field data; ensuring quality control of data collected; performing routine and recurring testing of collected samples; recording data collected and providing preliminary assessment and classification of the information; assisting in the preparation of resource management reports, plans, and guidelines. Hours per week work must be included.

-OR-

EDUCATION: May also qualify for the GS-6 level based on: 1 full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hour or 27 quarter hours) directly related to this position. Examples of directly related education are biology, botany, range science, forestry, ecology, environmental science, zoology, fisheries, animal husbandry, natural resource management or other directly related fields. You must include transcripts.

-OR-

I have an equivalent combination of education and experience. For example, I have 6 months of specialized experience (50% of the experience requirements for this position and grade level) combined with 6 months (9 semester hours) of graduate education, as outlined above (50% of the education required to qualify), directly related to this position. Examples of education directly related to the position are biology, botany, range science, forestry, ecology, environmental science, zoology, fisheries, animal husbandry, natural resource management or other directly related fields. PLEASE NOTE: If you are using education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts. We will not solicit you for this information and you will NOT receive consideration if it is not submitted. For experience, you must include hours per week worked.

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess one of:

EXPERIENCE: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-6 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: ability to execute established natural resource management projects by independently planning and carrying out steps using established techniques to resolve problems. For example, planning field projects, independently choosing from among several possible courses of action at different stages of the project (e.g., selects site locations, sampling techniques, appropriate equipment, logistics, etc.). Duties are supportive of professional specialists in resource management; relevant to research, conservation and management of natural resources such as but not limited to wildlife (land or aquatic) monitoring or control; field studies on plant or forest ecology, inventorying, monitoring, and/or control of invasive plants, leadership and mentoring tasks or making other field observations on the state of natural resource conditions. Must include hours per week worked.

-OR-

EDUCATION: May also qualify for the GS-7 level based on: 1 full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hour or 27 quarter hours) directly related to this position. Examples of directly related education are biology, botany, range science, forestry, ecology, environmental science, zoology, fisheries, animal husbandry, natural resource management or other directly related fields. You must include transcripts.

-OR-

have an equivalent combination of education and experience. See Combination for GS 06.

Because this is a one interval position to qualify for this position at the GS-08 grade level, you must possess one of:

EXPERIENCE: 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service. A GS 6 level will NOT qualify for this position. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Management of daily resource field projects; training and mentoring others on resource management duties; ability to provide technical advice for resource protection and mitigations; recording observations of wildlife behavior and/or human-wildlife interactions on public lands; analyzing data, preparing technical reports, and presenting findings.

-OR-

EDUCATION: 2 full years of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (36 semester hours or 54 quarter hours) directly related to this position. Examples of directly related education are biology, botany, range science, forestry, ecology, environmental science, zoology, fisheries, animal husbandry, natural resource management or other directly related fields.

-OR-

COMBINATION: To qualify for the GS-8 grade level, applicants may qualify based on a combination of experience and education in which the total Percentages must equal 100%

Volunteer Experience: 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

To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Additional information

For further information about the position, please contact:
OLYM--Jerald_weaver@nps.gov for multiple specialties; Catharine_copass@nps.gov and alexandra_reinwald@nps.gov for plants; Steven_fradkin@nps.gov for fisheries; andrew_ray@nps.gov for NCCN
SIEN--eric_dinger@nps.gov and anne_pfaff@nps.gov
CRLA--joshua_sprague@nps.gov for fisheries; josef_porter@nps.gov for wildlife and plants
REDW--stassia_samuels@nps.gov for plants; keith_bensen@nps.gov for fisheries
HALE--jeffrey_mallinson@nps.gov for plants
SEKI--kristie_stein@nps.gov for fisheries; richard_theil@nps.gov, ann_huber@nps.gov, and tom_warner@nps.gov for plants; rebecca_green@nps.gov for wildlife
MORA--sallie_beavers@nps.gov for wildlife; rebecca_lofgren@nps.gov for fisheries; kimberly_popek@nps.gov and joshua_drown@nps.gov for plants
NOCA--hugh_anthony@nps.gov for fisheries; elizabeth_fallon@nps.gov for plants
GRBA--jonathan_reynolds@nps.gov for fisheries; margaret_horner@nps.gov for plants
LAVO--nancy_nordensten@npe.gov for plants and wildlife
WHIS--christopher_mccarron@nps.gov for plants; laura_shaskey@nps.gov for fisheries
GOGA--bill_merkle@nps.gov for wildlife; alison_forrestel@nps.gov for plants and multiple specialties
LEWI--kayla_fermin@nps.gov for plants
CRMO--sara_ihrie@nps.gov for plants
PINN--amelia_ryan@nps.gov for multiple specialties
YOSE--garrett_dickman@nps.gov for plants; ninette_daniele@nps.gov for fisheries
LABE--jessica_reid@nps.gov for plants
WHMI--BIHO--russell_cash@nps.gov for multiple specialties
PORE--jenna_allred@nps.gov for plants

A Recruitment Incentive May Be Authorized for a newly selected employee when appointed to a permanent, temporary, or term position. A Federal employee who is transferring to the National Park Service from another component, bureau or Federal agency and who does not meet the conditions under 5 CFR §575.102 is not eligible for a recruitment incentive.

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if identical vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

Non-Competitive Rehire Eligibility: Temporary seasonal employees can only maintain their non-competitive rehire eligibility if they work no more than a combined total of Temporary NTE less than 1040 hours anywhere in the National Park Service (NPS) within their established service year. Accordingly, non-competitive rehire eligibility allows for re-appointment to the same position or another position appropriate for temporary appointment with the same qualification requirements (5 CFR 316.402[b][7]), based on series and grade, anywhere in the major subdivision (NPS).

If you have held a temporary seasonal appointment in the past 12 months and have already worked the maximum temporary appointment less than 1040 hours during that period, you are still welcome to apply. However, please be aware that exceeding the limit of 1040 hours in your established service year will result in the loss of your non-competitive rehire eligibility.

The limit can be exceeded by working multiple temporary seasonal positions that result in a combined total greater than 1040 hours. The limit also can be exceeded by working a single temporary seasonal appointment that exceeds 1040 hours, unless granted an exception by OPM.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How you will be evaluated

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

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessments required for this position. A review of your resume and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire to determine if you are qualified for this job. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses provided in the Assessment Questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation, you will be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score will be adjusted accordingly. If a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications or experience, you can lose consideration for this position. Please follow all instructions carefully; errors or omissions can affect your rating.

Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

Candidates will be rated and ranked using Category Rating procedures. These procedures place candidates with veteran's preference above non-preference eligibles within each category. Veterans with a service connected disability of at least 10 percent are listed in the highest quality category, except when the position being filled is scientific or professional at the GS-09 grade level or higher. Under Category Rating, candidates will be rated and ranked into one of two categories:

  • Well Qualified - applicants possessing experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in most of the requirements of the job
  • Qualified - applicants possessing experience that meets the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors and are proficient in some, but not all of the requirements of the job.
You will be evaluated on the following competencies:
  • Biology
  • Research
  • Technology Application
  • Leadership (GS 7/8 ONLY)
  • Ecology (GS 8 ONLY)
A selectee receiving a first appointment to the Federal Government (Civil Service) is entitled only to the lowest step of the grade for which selected The display of a salary range on this vacancy shall not be construed as granting an entitlement to a higher rate of pay.

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