Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge BioTech Individual Placement-AmeriCorps

Position Title:  Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge BioTech Individual Placement – AmeriCorps

Conservation Legacy Program: Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps

Site Location: Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS)

7851 2^nd St. SW Albuquerque, NM 87105

Terms of Service:

• Start Date: 4/21/25
• End Date: 10/24/2025
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 900 hours

Purpose:

Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps’ Mission

Our vision is to lead our Nations back to ecological and cultural well-being by engaging underrepresented Indigenous youth and young adults in conservation service programs that reconnect participants to the land, their cultural heritage, and their traditions. We work to remove barriers to participation, education, and employment by partnering with local community organizations, agencies, and institutes of higher learning to create paid service and career training opportunities, personal and professional development, and pathways to postsecondary education and employment. *Ancestral Lands serves local tribal communities in the regions we operate. This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, genetic information, and military service. Where a significant portion of the population eligible to be served needs services or information in a language other than English, the recipient shall take reasonable steps to provide written material of the type ordinarily available to the public in appropriate languages.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mission

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to work with others, to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

Valle de Oro NWR Vision and Value Statements

The vision of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) is to use an innovative approach to connect people with wildlife and land by providing equitable ways to deepen personal relationships with nature. The Refuge balances healthy habitat management with opportunities for education, visitor engagement, youth employment, community involvement and stewardship.

Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge's value statement is that staff, interns, and volunteers are committed to the following values as fundamental and foundational principles of the refuge. These values guide how we work and interact with one another, our partners, and our greater community.

• Intentional and Adaptable: Consciously working toward a shared vision or goal and continuously reflecting and sharing successes, mistakes and lessons learned.
• Innovative and Continually Learning: Taking risks to broaden the breadth and depth of work accomplished in the field of conservation to include: community engagement, art, culture, technology, social and environmental justice. Committing to continuously learn from each other, community members, partners, and stakeholders to keep approaches fresh and relevant.
• Respectful and Kind: Honoring the knowledge of our mission, staff, stakeholders, community, and surrounding cultures. Refuge staff are approachable, respectful, and kind and actively listen to the needs and concerns of others (volunteers, partners, and community members) and respond appropriately in thoughtful ways.
• Credible: Building and maintaining trust in the community and aspire to be transparent, realistic, and patient with staff, partners, and community members as the Refuge grows and changes.
• Accessible and Just: Providing equitable and inclusive opportunities and meaningful connection for people of diverse backgrounds, economic standings, abilities, and ages.
• Collaborative: Intentionally and collaboratively working with partners, volunteers, and community members to make decisions and take action. We believe that our combined effect is greater when we work together and have many voices at the table.

Program Overview:

Valle de Oro NWR was established in 2012 and is in the South Valley, 7 miles south of downtown Albuquerque. The Refuge occupies 570-acres of traditional, ancestral lands of the southern Tiwa People, who stewarded the land throughout generations. As the current land stewards, Valle de Oro NWR is a designated Urban NWR slated to be converted from a former dairy farm into natural, native habitats of the Middle Rio Grande Valley to be an oasis – a safe place – for both wildlife and people. At this Refuge, a diverse group of staff, partners, and the community are collaboratively building a refuge from the ground up, keeping in mind wildlife, people, environmental justice, inclusivity, equity, and more.

The refuge is seeking a positive and adaptive individual to be a Biological Technician to serve as support for the Refuge’s Biology Program from March 2025 to August 2025. This individual will contribute to providing information, planning, and on the ground observation and management of wildlife and habitat restoration, enhancement, and monitoring on/for the Refuge, especially as it continues to be built from the ground up.

Essential functions and responsibilities:

• Participate in habitat restoration and maintenance through the watering of desired/native plants, through methods including but not limited to by hand, use of Refuge vehicle/trailer and water tank, and/or through irrigation assistance.
• Contribute to habitat enhancement and site maintenance/preparation through the treatment of invasive/undesired plant species, through methods including but not limited to hand removal, mechanical removal using DR mower, weed whip, and/or lawn mower.
• Assist with refuge habitat restoration through the design and implementation of planting or transplanting desired/native plants, including the plantings of grass plugs, tree poles and seedlings, shrub seedlings, and/or the spreading of forb and grass seeds.
• Provide support with searching published technical sources for information on designed topics and preparing digests for reference to inform management goals, objectives, strategies, and more for the Valle de Oro NWR Habitat and Development Management Plan and other step-down plans, currently under development and/or being refined.
• Includes the writing, review, updating, and editing of significant portions in addition to helping with the implementation of certain aspects of the plans.
• Continue to develop critical thinking, problem solving, and technical writing skills when working in a team setting or independently while applying and expanding on knowledge of biological concepts, management actions, and monitoring needs though the writing, review, updating, editing, and implementing of significant sections of long-term biological planning for the Refuge.
• Includes providing support to build up the Refuge’s Biology Program.

Some General Qualifications:

• Knowledge of various tool use and safety, irrigation practices, local plants and animals, and concepts and techniques of safety and risk management are preferred.
• Experience with or interest in wildlife biology or related field and ability to be flexible and adaptive in both telework and field work are preferred.
• Ability to interpret professional and scientific reports/documents, write and understand agency plans and reports based upon agency requirements, and ability to write and understand scientific reports and documents are preferred but not required.
• The successful applicant must be reliable, punctual, and self-motivated and able to work independently, both via telework or in person, with limited supervision after initial training and assignment of tasks.

Requirements:

• 21 years of age or older
• S. Citizenship
• Permanent Resident Card, INS form I-551
• Alien Registration Card, INS form I-551
• A passport indicating that the INS has been approved it as temporary evidence of lawful admission for permanent residence
• A departure record (INS 194) indication that the INS has approved it as temporary evidence of lawful admission for permanent residence
• Valid driver’s license
• Periodic overnight work and non-traditional work hours, inclusive of weekends and evenings, 6pm-6am (required to work nights during irrigation)
• Participate in occasional offsite in person/virtual meetings, trainings, and presentations

• Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of elementary or 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
• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.

Physical Requirements:

• The applicant must be able to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds occasionally, up to 30 pounds frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds constantly. The applicant must be able to maneuver and operate in a mixture of office work and fieldwork. This includes frequently traversing uneven terrain and the ability to walk, balance, stoop, kneel, bend, reach, push, pull, and/or grasp in variable weather conditions and situations that may require a moderate amount of physical exertion.
• Applicant must have a visual acuity and valid license to operate motor vehicles and to determine the accuracy, neatness, and thoroughness of work assigned. Applicant must be able to receive detailed information through written and/or oral communication and convey important spoken and/or written instructions accurately and effectively.

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

Time Requirements:

• Typically, this position is expected to serve Monday to Friday, but exact service schedules may vary. A half hour lunch break will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service
• Member may be required to participate in national, state, or local service projects or events as part of their service term.

Orientation and Training:

• Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
• Members will receive orientation to Valle de Oro NWR and USFWS. 

Benefits:

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $ 3697.50
• Living Allowance of $600 per week.
• Additional Benefit of $120 per week.
• Healthcare Coverage if Eligible
• Loan forbearance if Eligible
• Interest Payments if Eligible

Evaluation and Reporting:

As an AmeriCorps member, performance will be evaluated on whether the member has completed the required number of hours, the member has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the member has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.

Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.

Supervisor Name and Contact Information:

G. Catlin “Cat” Ami Contact information: gami@conservationlegacy.org

Cynthia Dunkleberger@fws.gov Contact information: Cynthia_dunkleberger@fws.gov

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager. 

Salary : $120 - $600