Botany Technician (Stanislaus NF, MiWok Ranger District)

Position Description Summary:

USFS, Stanislaus NF, California

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 programs 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 institutes administrative operations with one of GBIs 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).

Essential Job Functions may include the following:

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. Specific duties will include, but are not limited to:

• 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; and
• May be asked to assist with reporting tasks.

Requirements/Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, employees must be able to satisfactorily carry out each essential duty. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

At least one of the following required:

• 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.

Other Required:

• 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 drivers license;
• Ability to live and work in rural and remote field and office settings; and
• 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.

Preferred:

• 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; and
• Ability to safely operate and maintain a 4WD vehicle on and off paved roads.

LOCATION

Stanislaus National Forest

The Stanislaus National Forest spans nearly 900,000 acres on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in California. With elevations ranging from 1,500 to 11,000 feet, the forest features diverse landscapes, from dense woodlands to alpine meadows. Nestled between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, it offers abundant recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, fishing, and skiing. Its proximity to major urban areas makes it a prime destination, with the San Francisco Bay Area located just 3 hours west.

WORK SCHEDULE

Projects begin as early as March and end as late as November. Season schedules are project specific.

Most Botany 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 holiday schedule will comply with the project partner holiday schedule, unless otherwise specified in their employment offer. TSAs working five (5) eight (8) hour days per workweek will be paid eight (8) hours for all holidays. 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).

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Wage: $21/hour with overtime at 1.5x hourly rate. Full time, average 40 hours per week

BENEFITS WILL NEED REVIEW EVERY TIME POSTED ( 1 YR OR <1 YR OR <90 DAYS)

>1YR duration 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. This exciting role contributes to GBIs significant positive impacts within the fields of environmental research, education, and conservation.

TSA employees who serve a term under 52 weeks in duration, and have a thirty (30) day or less break between terms, and then sign a second term that (cumulatively) becomes greater than 52 weeks of employment, will be eligible for the >1-year TSA benefits (equivalent to Regular full-time employees).

TO APPLY

Please submit an up-to-date resume, a one-page cover letter that details your interest in the position, and any qualifications not fully outlined in your resume, and contact information for three

professional references to the unique application link __insert actual ATS link___. Qualified applicants will be contacted to schedule an interview. For questions regarding this position, please contact kmckinnon@gbinstitute.org

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, use hands, stand, walk, bend, and have specific vision abilities to include close and distance vision, and ability to adjust focus working with computer business equipment and other job/industry specific equipment. The noise level in the work environment is usually low.

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employees may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the organization's ongoing needs.

Disclaimer: Although the organization has attempted to accurately and thoroughly describe this position, GBI reserves the right to change the same, including to change, add to or subtract from the duties outlined, within the sole discretion of the organization, at any time, with or without advance notice.