Ecology Assistant (52 Weeks) - AmeriCorps

Conservation Legacy • Port Angeles, WA

1d • $775 • Hybrid

About The Position

This Ecology Assistant is an AmeriCorps position focused on the subalpine ecosystems of national parks in the Pacific Northwest. These ecosystems are vital for biodiversity and recreation but are threatened by climate change, altered precipitation, and nutrient deposition. The position aims to produce high-quality analysis products and visuals to improve meadow management, monitoring efficiency, and public education. The role involves data science, data management, data analysis, and some field activities, drawing from long-term datasets to inform restoration and management of high elevation meadows in Olympic, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks.

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.
• Must be available to participate for the entire 52 Weeks.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent work experience, in a field related to ecology, natural resource management, geography, physical sciences, or biological sciences.
• Strong communication and organizational skills.
• Track record of conducting projects independently to carry out scientific analysis and automated data processing.
• Knowledge and experience in coding and analysis in R (or similar scripting programming language).
• Experience using database systems.
• Experience in ArcGIS or Google Earth Engine (or similar GIS and remote sensing applications).
• Upper level undergraduate or graduate-level coursework involving processing and analysis of biological data.
• Field data collection experience.
• Backcountry experience.
• Ability to serve in varied terrain at higher elevations.
• Interest in and the ability to recognize and identify key Pacific Northwest plant species.

Responsibilities

• Clean, explore, and summarize vegetation community data using R.
• Analyze trends in subalpine vegetation communities.
• Characterize seasonal phenological patterns in subalpine ecosystems using remote sensing and modeling with Google Earth Engine and various weather and imagery data.
• Participate in field monitoring of subalpine plots.
• Write up results and associated documentation in a technical report.
• Pilot modifications to monitoring methods in different national parks.

Benefits

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award: $7,395.00 upon successful completion of position (pre-tax)
• Weekly Living Allowance: $775.00 per week, fixed rate (pre-tax)
• Relocation Allowance: $450.00 (distributed as a one-time lump sum with first paycheck) (pre-tax)
• Student Loan Forbearance if applicable (administered by MyAmeriCorps, directly)
• Student Loan Interest Payments if applicable (administered through MyAmeriCorps, directly)
• For 52-week positions only: Free Healthcare Coverage (opt in)
• Childcare Coverage (opt in)

What This Job Offers

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