Ecological Monitoring Field Technicians (multiple locations NV & CA)

The Great Basin Institute is an interdisciplinary field studies organization that promotes environmental research, education, and service through the west. The Institute’s mission is to advance applied science and ecological literacy through community engagement and agency partnerships, supporting national parks, forest, open spaces and public lands.

The Ecological Monitoring Program at GBI serves as an excellent professional development opportunity for natural resource professionals looking for experience in botanical, soil, and rangeland surveys. This Program is a component of our well-established Research Associate Program, which focuses on the conservation and management of natural, cultural, and recreation resources in the Intermountain West while providing emerging professionals opportunities to begin or enhance their careers.

GBI’s Ecological Monitoring Program is dedicated to providing college graduates and emerging professionals with hands-on survey, inventory, monitoring, and reporting experience in natural resource management. Extensive training and technical field skills development provides employees a unique opportunity to obtain valuable experience in executing monitoring protocols that will increase their employment success.

In one component of the Program, participants implement the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) strategy for terrestrial systems, targeted at collecting standardized ecological information and long-term vegetation data at multiple scales across western BLM districts. In some instances participants may perform supplemental protocols such as Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health (IIRH) and Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF) (to inform conservation approaches for sage-grouse). Supplemental sampling may also include collecting data on forb diversity, annual production and pollinators, among other indicators. Select locations will apply AIM sampling to post-wildfire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR) monitoring.

This video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LciTBPG2-Ss&feature=youtu.be) highlights the national BLM AIM strategy for landscape-scale data capture across western states.

Description:
GBI is recruiting Ecological Monitoring Field Technicians to work with GBI and BLM staff. Each Field Tech will work with one other technician under the supervision of a Field Lead to characterize vegetation using the terrestrial AIM core methods. In some instances, Describing/Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health (D/IIRH), Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF), and/or other supplemental protocols will be performed, for which training will be provided. Aside from core AIM sampling, any supplemental protocols implemented will vary by location.

Duties include following established field protocols to perform vegetation sampling and field data collection at new and existing sampling plots. Data will be used by resource specialists and land managers to inform decisions regarding land management at various temporal and spatial scales. During field work, car camping for 7 night “hitches” in remote locations will typically be required.

Depending on performance and completion of work term this position can qualify for Public Lands Corps (PLC) status given that the applicant is 30 years old or younger at the time of GBI employment. This status will last two years from the end of GBI employment.

Field work will include:
• Maintaining safety awareness and practices;
• Extensive 4x4 driving on unmaintained roads;
• Navigating off-trail to sampling sites;
• Establishing sampling plots and transects;
• Identifying and describing soil horizons to help verify ecological site descriptions (ESDs);
• Collecting vegetation data (including species inventory, forb diversity, species abundance, sagebrush shape, foliar cover, canopy gap, and herbaceous and woody heights);
• Making qualitative range assessments; and
• Taking photo-points.

Additional duties include:
• Regular communication with GBI support staff and agency staff;
• Participation in GBI and agency trainings;
• Entering data into both Arc Collector and Survey 123 software;
• Identifying plants to species using dichotomous keys; and
• Employing extensive QA/QC data checks.

Compensation:
Total approximate compensation: $2910/month before taxes (approximate hourly equivalent: $18.19/hour), plus health insurance (monthly premiums fully paid by GBI) and paid time off.
Breakdown:
• $15.00/hour
• $15.00 per diem for every night camping (up to 7 units in an 8 day work week)
• $150 bi-weekly housing stipend*
• Health insurance including vision and dental
• Paid federal holidays
• Paid personal time off (amount dependent on contract length)
• Paid bi-weekly
*Housing stipend is untaxed and can be used at the discretion of the applicant. Housing is not provided. Applicants must be able to provide their own lodging.

Locations and Tentative Timelines:
Locations and timelines listed below are tentative, some with potential for extension. Crews will be based out of either the Las Vegas or Reno GBI Offices but work in the following BLM Field Office (FO’s) areas:
California (crews based out of Reno, NV but working in CA):
• Ukiah, California; March - July 2021
• Bishop, California; April - September 2021
Nevada (crews based out of Reno or Las Vegas):
• Reno, NV; April to October 2021 (potential for several crews to begin earlier)
• Las Vegas, NV; February to July or September 2021

Qualifications:
Experience, education, or a combination of the two in natural resources and field data collection to meet one or both of the following:
• Bachelor’s Degree in Life Sciences, such as: Botany, Wildlife Biology, Range Ecology, Natural Resources Management, Environmental Resources or related subject;
• Minimum of 1 year field data collection

Technical requirements:
• Coursework or equivalent experience in plant taxonomy and/or systematics;
• Experience identifying plants in the field and using a dichotomous key;
• Experience in describing and identifying soil horizons preferred;
• Experience conducting plant surveys using various monitoring protocols, including standard rangeland monitoring protocols, photo plots, and site observations;
• Experience with data entry and management;
• Ability to read, interpret and navigate using topographic maps;
• Experience safely operating 4WD trucks on paved and unpaved roads, often in remote areas on unimproved roads;
• Experience navigating and collecting coordinates with hand-held GPS units;
• Experience creating maps and performing basic functions with GIS software (ArcMap), preferred;
• Experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access); and
• Experience with Arc Collector, Survey 123, and ArcGIS Online.

Additional requirements:
• Willingness and ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic setting, and to consistently enact high performance standards and a strong work and team ethic in support of the goals and objectives of the AIM program and the mission of GBI;
• Valid, state-issued driver’s license and clean driving record;
• Familiarity with native and invasive plants of the sampling area and associated natural resource issues preferred;
• Ability to work productively as part of a team to accomplish mutual goals;
• Ability to work independently;
• Ability to communicate effectively with team members, agency staff, and a diverse public;
• Excellent organizational skills;
• Familiarity with best practices for field safety and Leave No Trace principles;
• Experience in and willingness to spend multiple days camping in the field;
• Flexibility with position location within field district offices
• Willingness to work irregular hours (e.g., early mornings, late nights); and
• Ability to work in harsh and rapidly changing environments, work in all types of weather conditions, traverse uneven terrain, carry upwards of 40 pounds in a backpack, and otherwise maintain good physical condition.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Apply at: https://www.vscyberhosting.com/greatbasin/Careers.aspx?req=2020-AIM-005&type=JOBDESCR

Please indicate your availability and location preferences in your cover letter when applying. Application review will continue until all positions are filled. We encourage applying early to gain the best chance of getting top-choice locations. Only qualified candidates will be contacted.

American Society of Plant Taxonomists 2021 Graduate Student Research Grants

ASPT is pleased to announce that submissions are open for the society’s annual Graduate Student Research Grants. Support in the amount of up to $1500* is available for masters and doctoral students to conduct fieldwork, herbarium studies, and/or laboratory research in any area of plant systematics. ASPT values diversity in science, and encourages applications from botanists from all backgrounds regardless of race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, or citizenship. Six proposals will receive special recognition: in addition to our five established named grants, ASPT is pleased to announce the BIPOC Excellence in Systematic Botany Grant. This grant will be awarded to a high-ranking proposal from an applicant who self- identifies as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of color, and expresses interest in being considered. Proposals will be funded on the basis of merit regardless of the research area within plant systematics, including taxonomy, floristics, phylogenetics, and other research that contributes to our understanding of plant biodiversity. A list of past awardees and topics can be found here.

Bioinformatics Postdoctoral Research Associate - NYBG

The Bioinformatics Postdoctoral Research Associate will process large genomic sequence in a LINUX command–line environment.

Additionally, this position supports, through actions and conduct, NYBG’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility initiatives and actively helps to build and maintain an inclusive organization culture throughout the institution.

The New York Botanical Garden is committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment, and further recognizes that diversity in our workforce fosters excellence in our mission of advocating for the plants of the world. Leveraging the strong foundation of existing policies and practices, NYBG will advance diversity, equity, and inclusion through a number of institutional initiatives presented through this plan. Our aspiration is to continue to cultivate a workforce and institution that is as diverse as the communities we serve and the audiences we engage.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

This position is part of an NSF funded project (IOS 1758800) to sequence and characterize gymnosperm genomes.

Specifically, the postdoctoral researcher will

Apply machine learning to gymnosperm genomes to identify genes
Elucidate gene function, compare genomes, and highlight associations between genome structure/content and organismal characteristics
Some curation, annotation, and assembly of genome sequences will be required
Apply existing algorithms and develop new algorithms (application of existing algorithms will most likely require new, more efficient, implementations be produced by the researcher)

Requirements:

PhD in bioinformatics, machine learning, computer science, or botany; computer programming experience (the Python and JavaScript implementations of TensorFlow will be used); fluency in LINUX command–line environments including BASH and high–performance computing frameworks (e.g. HTCondor); practical knowledge of efficient data processing and pipelines.

If you require an accommodation for any part of the application process, please notify the Human Resources department at HR@nybg.org

EOE/M/F/Disabled/Veteran

Herbarium Digitization Technician at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Application Deadline: 26 Nov 2020

Summary of position and responsibilities: The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) at UC Santa Barbara is seeking applicants for an Herbarium Digitization Technician at the UCSB Herbarium. The UCSB Natural History Collections—including the UCSB Herbarium—comprise nearly a half million specimens that are housed at CCBER. The Technician will focus on digitizing the Herbarium’s newly organized collection: “Seaweeds of the Pacific Coast of North America.” Most of our specimens are from the central California coast and Channel Islands region, making them an excellent resource to understand macroalgal diversity in the Point Conception area, a major biogeographic break on the Pacific Coast. Digital data freely provided by the Cheadle Center is heavily utilized by researchers around the world, and this position supports our mission of education, research, and ecological restoration (https://ccber.ucsb.edu/).
Under supervision of the Collection Manager, the Technician will be responsible for the digitization of ca. 10,000 seaweed specimens, which includes a variety of activities such as barcoding, imaging, transcribing specimen labels, and georeferencing the specimens in our online Macroalgal Portal database. Other duties include recruiting, training, and supervising UCSB student interns and community volunteers to assist with the digitization effort, both on-site and remotely; assessing quality of digitized records; managing the images and digital records of the collection; assisting with teaching an undergraduate course “Introduction to Curation of Natural History Collections” twice a year; assisting with herbarium pest management; seeking expert taxonomic identification of specimens; and assisting with the planning and implementation of two workshops on California seaweed identification.
The Technician will advance the digitization of an important herbarium collection, which includes some of the earliest seaweed specimens collected in California. This position is well suited for a detail- and goal-oriented person who enjoys outreach with interns and the general public and providing open-access biodiversity data to enable research and education. We also seek a candidate who is eager to meet the challenges of the pandemic and who will persevere in the face of a rapidly changing work environment.
In response to the public health crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, the position will require the Technician to adapt, develop, and maintain safe working conditions in the Herbarium as a top priority. Work will be carried out by the Technician in isolated workspaces to maximize safety, and the Technician will train interns and volunteers across secure glass barriers that separate the Herbarium and offices from workspaces in the building. The incumbent will work closely with CCBER staff, representatives of the UCSB campus, and others to ensure proper implementation of safety measures, as well as assist with developing new work procedures that meet or exceed State and Campus safety requirements.
The incumbent will have the opportunity for career development in natural history collections, taxonomy, and biodiversity informatics through mentorship by CCBER scientists, curators, and visiting researchers and by attending training workshops. The Technician will be encouraged to engage in scholarly activities such as participating and organizing public workshops and digitization events, co-teaching courses on natural history collections, writing grant proposals to support UCSB student interns and volunteers, disseminating findings at seminars and conferences, and interacting with UCSB faculty and students.
This full-time position is funded for two years as part of an Institute of Museum and Library Services project at the Cheadle Center. It is anticipated that up to 100% of the work will be performed at the Herbarium on the UCSB Campus, but this may change to a mix of remote and on-site work, given the uncertainties surrounding the health crisis.
Minimum requirements: Graduation from high school or a General Education Diploma or two years of college including courses in the natural, physical or social sciences and at least two years’ experience curating specimens in an herbarium or natural history museum setting, including experience with, filing, imaging, digitizing, and georeferencing specimens; working with biodiversity databases, including label transcription and georeferencing; basic familiarity with biological classification, nomenclature, and taxonomy; excellent organizational skills; demonstrated ability for productivity and accuracy; and a willingness to innovate and to seek solutions to the many logistical problems presented by the pandemic health crisis.
Desirable qualifications: A bachelor’s or master’s degree in natural, physical or social sciences or museum studies and a basic familiarity with California seaweeds.

More Information Here