Description:
The vegetation/habitat monitoring program at GBI serves as an excellent professional development opportunity for burgeoning natural resource professionals. This program is a component of our well-established Research Associate Program, which focuses on conservation and management of natural and cultural resources in the Intermountain West. As an element of our vegetation/habitat monitoring program, participants will implement the Bureau of Land Management’s national Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) strategy, which is targeted at collecting standardized inventory and monitoring data at multiple scales across the Western BLM districts with the purpose of informing multiple-use management. In accordance with this strategy and through a partnership with the BLM, GBI’s vegetation monitoring program is dedicated to providing college graduates and emerging professionals with hands-on survey, inventory, monitoring, and reporting experience in natural resource management.
In cooperation with the BLM, GBI is recruiting Field Technicians to work cooperatively with BLM Resource Managers and GBI Vegetation Monitoring Field Leads. Each field crew (one Lead and two Technicians) will characterize vegetation using the Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) protocol, Describing/ Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health (D/IIRH) and/or the Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF) protocol for which training will be provided by the Jornada Experimental Range and BLM. These protocols vary by location.
Duties:
Duties include following established field protocols to conduct vegetation sampling and field data collection on new and existing monitoring sites throughout the West. Field work includes maintaining safety awareness and practices, navigating off-trail to sampling sites, establishing sampling plots and transects, identifying and describing soil horizons, collecting vegetation data (including species inventory, forb frequency, sagebrush shape, foliar cover, canopy gap, and herbaceous and woody heights), making qualitative range assessments, and taking photo-points. During these periods of field work, camping will be required.
Additional duties include entering data into an Access-based database, employing QA/QC techniques, and aiding with field logistics. Field data will be used by BLM Natural Resource Specialists to inform decisions regarding range management and other land management issues of the area.
Locations and Tentative Timelines:
Please refer to our website for the latest details on each position:
- Susanville, CA: 18 April - 26 Aug 2016 (19 weeks)
- Boise, ID: 11 April - 2 Sep 2016 (21 weeks)*
- Marsing, ID: 11 April - 2 Sep 2016 (21 weeks)*
- Burley, ID: 11 April – 30 September 2016 (25 weeks)*
- Shoshone, ID: 11 April – 30 September 2016 (25 weeks)*
- Pocatello, ID: 11 April - 2 Sep 2016 (21 weeks)*
- Salmon, ID: 13 June – 22 July 2016 (6 weeks)
- Wenatchee, WA: 11 April - 15 Jul 2016 (14 weeks)
- Lakeview, OR: 11 April - 2 Sep 2016 (26 weeks)*
- Vale, OR: 11 April - 2 Sep 2016 (26 weeks)*
- Burns, OR: 11 April - 2 Sep 2016 (26 weeks)*
- Kanab and Escalante, UT: TBD May-July*
- Lander, WY: 16 May to 2 September (16 weeks)
- Rawlins, WY: 16 May to 2 September (16 weeks)
*Duration of position is contingent upon funding
Compensation:
- $15.00/hour
- $15.00 Camping per diem
- $75/week housing stipend
Qualifications and Education Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Life Sciences, such as: Botany, Wildlife Biology, Range Ecology, Natural Resources Management, Environmental Resources or related subject;
- Coursework in plant taxonomy and/or systematics (transcripts may be requested);
- Experience identifying plants in the field and using a dichotomous key;
- Familiarity with native and invasive plants of the sampling area and associated natural resource issues preferred;
- Experience in describing and identifying soil horizons;
- Experience conducting plant surveys using various monitoring protocols, including standard rangeland monitoring protocols, photo plots, and site observations;
- Experience with data entry and management;
- Ability to read, interpret and navigate using topographic maps;
- Experience navigating and collecting coordinates with hand-held GPS units;
- Experience creating maps and performing basic functions with GIS software (ArcMap); and
- Experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access).
Additional Requirements:
- Valid, state-issued driver’s license and clean driving record;
- Ability to complete a Department of Interior (DOI) Background Investigation (BI) and submit paperwork to BLM human resources prior to beginning position indicating that an active and fully adjudicated BI has been started or completed;
- Experience operating 4WD trucks on paved and unpaved roads, often in narrow or sandy areas;
- Ability to work productively as part of a team to accomplish mutual goals;
- Ability to work independently;
- Ability to communicate effectively with team members, agency staff, and a diverse public;
- Excellent organizational skills;
- Familiarity with best practices for field safety and low impact principles;
- Experience in and willingness to spend multiple days camping in the field;
- Flexibility with position location within field district offices
- Willingness to work irregular hours (e.g., early mornings, late nights); and
- Ability to work in harsh and rapidly changing environments, work in all types of weather conditions, traverse uneven terrain, carry upwards of 40 pounds in a backpack, and otherwise maintain good physical condition.
To Apply:
Please visit our employment web page at: https://www.thegreatbasininstitute.org/jobs/ to locate the position(s) and locations(s) you are most interested in. Follow the directions on the posting by sending a cover letter, résumé, and a list of three professional references to RA Recruitment at RArecruitment@thegreatbasininstitute.org. Please write “BLM Vegetation/Habitat Monitoring Tech” in the email subject line and include where you found this position in your cover letter along with your top 3 location preferences.