Crew Leaders: https://www.thegreatbasininstitute.org/job/vegetationhabitat-monitoring-field-leads/
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-California Eagle Lake and Applegate Field Offices, GBI is recruiting three Field Leads to work cooperatively with BLM Resource Managers and GBI Vegetation Monitoring Field Technicians. Each Field Lead will coordinate a field crew (one Lead and two Technicians) to characterize vegetation using the Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) protocol and Describing/ Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health (D/IIRH), for which training will be provided by the Jornada Experimental Range in Reno, NV.
Duties:
Duties include following established field protocols to conduct vegetation sampling and field data collection on new and existing monitoring sites within the eastern BLM Northern California District. Field work includes maintaining safety awareness and practices, navigating off-trail to sampling sites, establishing sampling plots and transects, identifying and describing soil horizons, and collecting vegetation data (including species inventory, 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 coordinating field logistics, scheduling, entering data into and managing an Access-based database, employing extensive QA/QC data checks, and reporting. Field data will be used by BLM Natural Resource Specialists to inform decisions regarding range management and other land management issues of the area. Funding for the full duration of this work is pending.
Location:
These positions are based in the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville, CA and the monitoring will take place across public lands managed by the BLM Northern California District, covering over 1.5 million acres in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada. The area comprises a wide range of habitats and geography, and diverse plant and animal populations. Public lands in this district are managed by the BLM for livestock grazing, recreation, greater sage-grouse habitat, wild horse and burro populations, and juniper encroachment in sagebrush steppe. Terrain and climate of the survey region is typical of the Northwestern Basin and Range and Modoc plateau, and the vegetation and soils are affected by the nearby Southern Cascades and Sierra Nevada ecoregions.
Details:
- $1,360 bi-weekly salary
- $15.00 Camping per diem
- $75/week housing stipend
Timeline:
- 11 April - 9 Sep 2016 (22 weeks)
- Full-time, 40 hours per week minimum
Qualifications and Education Requirements:
- Leadership experience;
- 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;
- Experience with technical writing and/or producing written project summary reports;
- 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;
- 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;
- Experience leading a field crew;
- Familiarity with best practices for field safety and low impact principles;
- Experience in and willingness to spend multiple days camping in the field;
- Willingness to work irregular hours (e.g., early mornings, late nights);
- 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
Crew Techs: https://www.thegreatbasininstitute.org/job/vegetationhabitat-monitoring-field-technician-susanville-ca/
Description:
In cooperation with the BLM-California Eagle Lake and Applegate Field Offices, GBI is recruiting six 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 and Describing/ Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health (D/IIRH), for which training will be provided by the Jornada Experimental Range in Reno, NV.
Duties:
Duties include following established field protocols to conduct vegetation sampling and field data collection on new and existing monitoring sites within the eastern BLM Northern California District. 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, foliar cover, canopy gap, and herbaceous and woody heights), making qualitative range assessments, and taking photo-points. Additional duties include entering data into the Database for Inventory, Monitoring and Assessment (DIMA) Access-based database, employing QA/QC techniques, and aiding with field logistics. During these periods of field work, camping will be required. Field data will be used by BLM Natural Resource Specialists to inform decisions regarding range management and other land management issues of the area. Funding for the full duration of this work is pending.
Location:
These positions are based in the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville, CA and the monitoring will take place across public lands managed by the BLM Northern California District, covering over 1.5 million acres in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada. The area comprises a wide range of habitats and geography, and diverse plant and animal populations. Public lands in this district are managed by the BLM for livestock grazing, recreation, greater sage-grouse habitat, wild horse and burro populations, and juniper encroachment in sagebrush steppe. Terrain and climate of the survey region is typical of the Northwestern Basin and Range and Modoc plateau, and the vegetation and soils are affected by the nearby Southern Cascades and Sierra Nevada ecoregions.
Compensation:
- $15.00/hour
- $15.00 Camping per diem
- $75/week housing stipend
Timeline:
- 18 April - 26 Aug 2016 (19 weeks)
- Full-time, 40 hours per week minimum
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;
- 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;
- 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.