Biology Assistant (26 Weeks) - AmeriCorps

Conservation Legacy • Rapid City, SD

2d

About The Position

This Biology Assistant is an AmeriCorps position. The I&M program, and NGPN, document status and trends of resource conditions in NPS units—the targets were selected by superintendents and resource managers as important for decisions in their respective units. Vegetation monitoring is a keystone of NGPN monitoring because the prominent role vegetation plays in creating wildlife habitat, visitor experiences, and fuels for wildfire. Our data and summaries directly inform resource managers about habitat conditions (e.g., herbaceous forage, standing dead trees), fuel accumulations, non-native species infestations, and changes in these conditions due to fire, management or other environmental factors. Our interns become part of our resource monitoring team and directly contribute in this program to support NPS habitat management and conservation.

Participants will become part of our vegetation monitoring team with duties split between our office in Rapid City, and field trips to sample vegetation and fuels at 11 NPS units. Travel will be a mixture of day-trips and overnights depending on distance to different park-units. Core activities will include: learning local plant species by name and code, learning and using specific sampling protocols, traveling to field locations and supporting the collection of data, transferring data from paper forms into a shared database with quality control and oversight. Opportunity for an expanded role in plant identification, survey and measurements, GPS navigation, spatial and tabular data management exist depending on individual interests and network needs. A day in the field might include navigating with GPS, walk to sites, find buried nails, stretch tapes, count plants along tape, name plants in quadrats, count sticks and logs along a line, measure litter, find invasives, recognize disturbances, take good notes, roll up and move on.

Requirements

• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien.
• Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award
• Prior to starting the position, agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check for the employer of record, Conservation Legacy, and a separate government security background check for the host site.
• The applicant must be available to participate for the entire 26 Weeks in order to be considered and participate.
• Applicant must have a valid driver's license to drive a government vehicle.

Nice To Haves

• Interest and ability in plant identification and vegetation management is necessary, but level of skill and experience can vary.
• Coursework and/or job experience in Ecology, Botany, field-identification of plants, grass systematics, grassland or forest ecology, rangeland management, dichotomous keys, GIS data and GPS navigation, data management, will be useful and relevant; more experience in these areas will make you better qualified for this position.

Responsibilities

• Learning local plant species by name and code
• Learning and using specific sampling protocols
• Traveling to field locations and supporting the collection of data
• Transferring data from paper forms into a shared database with quality control and oversight
• Plant identification, survey and measurements
• GPS navigation
• Spatial and tabular data management

Benefits

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award : $ 3,697.50 upon successful completion of position
• Weekly Living Allowance: $ 700.00 per week, fixed rate
• Relocation Allowance: $ 450.00 (distributed as a one-time lump sum with first paycheck)
• Student Loan Forbearance if applicable (administered by MyAmeriCorps, directly)
• Student Loan Interest Payments if applicable (administered through MyAmeriCorps, directly)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: High school or GED