What are the responsibilities and job description for the STUDENT-FWS- Community Science Institute position at Student?
Call for Applications: Water Quality Off-Campus FWS Student Employee
About Community Science Institute:
Community Science Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and NYSDOH ELAP-certified water testing lab. Our mission is to inspire and empower communities to safeguard water resources by cultivating scientific literacy through volunteer water quality monitoring, certified laboratory analyses, and education.
CSI recruits, trains, and coordinates volunteers to participate in our water quality monitoring programs: Synoptic Stream and Lake Monitoring, Biomonitoring, and Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring. In partnership with these volunteers, we build long-term datasets of regulatory quality data that can help guide the sustainable management of local water resources. These data are available to the public on our online water quality database: www.database.communityscience.org. Alone, these data speak volumes, but we help give them a voice through our outreach and education initiatives including our Water and Community events, Water Bulletin Newsletter, summer Journey of Water youth education series, Biomonitoring Open Lab nights, and Monthly Updates.
In addition, CSI offers fee-based, certified drinking water testing services and counts the Tompkins County Health Department and Cornell University, as well as dozens of businesses and hundreds of private homeowners, among our clients. Through our fee-for-service program, we offer affordable water tests to the public while also providing our clients with the information they need to make informed decisions about their drinking water resources.
Summary
Position: Water Quality Off-Campus FWS Student Employee
Supervisor: Executive Director
Potential State date: Aug 25, 2025
Main Contact: Hope Borsic (Student Employment Specialist
Pay Rate: $16.50*
*(Up to and not exceeding your FWS award amount, please consult with SFS@ithaca.edu if you have questions about your award amount)
Responsibilities:
The Water Quality Off-Campus FWS Student Employee’s responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to:
• Assist with coordination of CSI programs (Biomonitoring, Harmful Algal Bloom, Synoptic Sampling, Journey of Water) and events.
• Support CSI staff to develop, produce, and publish educational content about water quality through social media, handouts, fact sheets, or articles.
• Provide customer service to CSI’s diverse clientele by discussing their water testing needs, educating clients about water quality issues, providing appropriate sample bottles and chain-of-custody forms, and logging samples into our state-certified laboratory system.
• Enter data from our water quality monitoring programs into CSI’s public water quality database.
• Prepare certified water test reports for drinking water clients.
• Wash and prepare sample bottles for volunteer monitoring programs.
Off-Campus FWS Student Employees will also be given the opportunity to pursue a specific project that supports CSI’s mission pending approval from the Executive Director.
Requirements:
Specific experience is not required. However, we do require that Off-Campus FWS Student Employees be able to take initiative, work independently, solve problems, and pay attention to detail. Candidates with the following experience will be considered competitive for this position:
• At least 2 semesters of coursework in chemistry, environmental science, biology, or a related discipline
• Experience with science communication or science education
• Customer service experience
Working Conditions:
• Traditional office environment with some occasional field work
• Must be able to sit for extended periods of time
Inclusion Statement:
CSI is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage qualified applicants from historically underrepresented groups in the sciences to apply. We will fully consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, culture, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, lifestyle, marital status, or veteran status.
Salary : $17
