Botany Crew (Sequoia NF, Western Divide Ranger District)

GREAT BASIN INSTITUTE

1d • $21 - $21 • Onsite

About The Position

The Great Basin Institute, in cooperation with the USFS, is recruiting Botany Crew Members to perform vegetation surveys within the Sierra Nevada mountain range. These projects all serve the Basin & Range Forestry program’s greater mission of helping the USFS in their critical goal of improving forest resilience in the face of worsening climate conditions and increased wildfire threats. The work that you will do directly improves the quality of these forests helping ensure they continue to thrive for generations to come. Crew members will benefit from exposure to USFS processes, procedures, compliance measures and reporting, and technical experience. Expanded opportunities and exposure to additional disciplines (e.g. archaeology, wildlife, hydrology, recreation, etc.) and projects may exist. These positions serve to protect sensitive botanical species and contribute to USFS vegetation management and fuels reduction efforts, and to support initiatives for healthy, productive, and resilient forest landscapes and resources. Outcomes of field work, conducted in accordance with USFS protocols, will advance planning for management actions on National Forest lands. A Temporary Special Assignment (TSA) employee is one who is hired for a specific temporary assignment external from the institute’s administrative operations with one of GBI’s partners for 52 weeks or greater or less than 52 weeks and may work full-time (30 or more hours per week) or part-time (less than 30 hours per week).
Botany crew members will conduct botanical surveys to establish distributional occurrences of targeted species and populations in and around designated project sites and access routes. Data from these surveys will inform mitigation measures set to protect targeted plant species and vegetation communities considered habitat for designated wildlife.
LOCATION
The incumbents will be based out of the Western Divide Ranger District (Springville, CA) of the Sequoia National Forest (SNF), which is one of 19 National Forests in California and takes its name from the giant sequoia, the world's largest tree. The SNF's landscape includes soaring granite monoliths, glacier-carved canyons, roaring whitewater, and more than 30 groves of sequoia trees in the forest's lower elevation slopes. Elevations range from 1,000 feet in the foothill region to peaks over 12,000 feet in the rugged high country, providing visitors with some of the most spectacular views of mountainous landscape in the entire west.
WORK SCHEDULE
This position will begin in mid-May and end as late as mid-November. Season start and end dates are project and weather dependent and may change slightly. Forestry Crew positions follow 10 hour days, 4 days a week schedule. Temporary Special Assignment employees are eligible to receive holiday pay, if partner approved. TSAs working four (4) ten (10) hour days per workweek will be paid ten (10) hours for all holidays. Same with other approved/allowable workweek configurations; these can be accommodated accordingly with Banked Holiday(s).

Requirements

• Degree in botany, plant ecology, or a closely related field in the biological sciences, including coursework in plant taxonomy and/or systematics (transcripts may be requested); AND/OR Experience conducting rare plant surveys and other botanical field work; AND/OR Six months of professional fieldwork experience.
• Experience using technical keys to identify plants to the species or sub-species level
• Experience working with hand-held GPS, maps and compass for field navigation and data collection
• Capacity to collect and maintain field data in an organized manner that is easily understood and accessible to other resources staff
• Ability to communicate effectively, both written and orally, with a diverse audience
• Possess a clean, valid, state-issued driver’s license
• Ability to live and work in rural and remote field and office setting
• Physically fit to work outdoors, carry up to 50 pounds of personal and/or field equipment and withstand the rigors of a forested and/or high desert environment in all seasons

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of the flora of the Eastern Sierra/Great Basin transition zone
• Skills related to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Comfortable with noxious weed control
• Ability to understand, implement and adhere to established data collection, inventory, assessment and monitoring protocols
• Ability to safely operate and maintain a 4WD vehicle on and off paved roads

Responsibilities

• Botanical surveys to determine species identity, population characteristics, environmental conditions, factors affecting vigor and extent of species and their habitat
• Lay out monitoring plots
• Photograph or collect specimens as directed
• Produce maps of survey areas
• Record, enter and summarize data
• Use botanical keys to identify plants
• May be asked to assist with reporting tasks

Benefits

• Wage: $21/hour with overtime at 1.5x hourly rate.
• Full time, average 40 hours per week
• In addition to a competitive base salary, this full-time,onsite position includes company-paid comprehensive medical, dental (with option to upgrade in coverage), and vision insurance, as well as $25,000 Life/AD&D policy.
• Voluntary short-term and long-term disability policies are available, and voluntary Life/AD&D policies for family members.
• Mental health support resources are employer provided, competitive PTO accrual, and paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level