Environmental Scientist 1, 2, or 3 (LOSCO)

State of Louisiana•Baton Rouge, LA

9h•Onsite

About The Position

The Office of the Secretary serves as the department's executive management office. The Secretary is the chief officer of the Department of Conservation & Energy (DCE), in charge of its policy, administration, and operations. The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office (LOSCO) was created by state legislature in 1991. This division serves as the single point of contact for programs related to oil spills in Louisiana. LOSCO’s mission is to minimize unauthorized discharges of oil, provide for an effective spill response, compensate the public for damages to the state’s natural resources and services, and assist the public through education, service, and public outreach. This Environmental Scientist 1, 2 or 3 position is located within the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office Division of the Office of the Secretary and is domiciled in Baton Rouge, LA. The incumbent in this position is responsible for coordinating with state agencies as well as federal agencies to ensure a prompt and thorough oil spill response, traveling to remote sites to assist in field investigations, site visits, and monitoring events.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field; OR A master’s degree or doctorate in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field.

Responsibilities

Required to respond to oil spill incidents during nights and weekends while on an on-call rotation throughout the State of Louisiana.
Coordinate cleanup and/or Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) activities with responsible parties, contractors, and other local, state, and federal government agencies to ensure effective oil spill response, clean-up, and/or NRDA and restoration actions.
Able to operate within an Incident Command structure, fulfilling assigned roles and supporting unified oil spill response and/or NRDA efforts for the State of Louisiana as needed.
Coordinate and collaborate with state agencies to support oil spill response, recovery, and/or NRDA and restoration efforts.
Provide support for the implementation of various LOSCO programs, including Oil Spill Planning, Prevention, and Response, NRDA, and RRP.
Assist in conducting field investigations and analytical assessments in support of oil spill response and/or NRDA activities.
Applies established protocols for collecting, storing, transferring (under chain of custody), and shipping scientific data, and provides support to other field staff as needed.
Prepare reports and articles detailing oil spill response developments and technology/environmental issues.
Provide technical advice to LOSCO during an oil spill response and/or NRDA.
Assist in the coordination of oil spill preparedness drills.
Represent and participate in meetings, workshops, symposiums, conferences, and seminars to enhance the development of LOSCO’s NRDA, RRP, and oil spill response, planning, and prevention programs.
Other duties as assigned.