Biologist

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-07/18/2024-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience.

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: There is a positive education requirement for this position. You must meet one of the education requirements listed here along with the specialized experience listed below. You MUST submit a copy of your transcripts/documentation that show how you meet the below requirements. If you do not submit proof, you will be found not qualified.

BASIC REQUIREMENT BIOLOGIST GS-401: Degree: 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.

OR

COMBINATION EDUCATION/SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE SUBSTITUTION BIOLOGIST GS-401: Equivalent combination of education and experience that included course work equivalent to a major (i.e., 24 semester hours) in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or a discipline closely related to biology; PLUS appropriate experience or additional course work. The quality of the combination must demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the work of the position and is comparable to that normally acquired through the completion of a full four-year course of study with a major as described above.

- AND -

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

To qualify for this position, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:

EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). This experience includes activities such as: (1) preparation of natural resource management action plans and strategies needed to successfully manage and protect natural ecosystems and environmental conditions; (2) analyze ecosystem components and processes within a diversity of wildlife communities to determine the effects of management activities; (3) following established protocols, coordinate natural resource strategies and programs with outside entities (e.g., agency, academic, and NGO partners); or other similar work. Finally, your experience must have included cataloging, organizing, and analyzing large wildlife, vegetation, or aquatic datasets using computer software (i.e. R, SAS, Python), in a way that is highly credible and meets scientifically acceptable standards. You must include hours per week worked and the grade level of any federal position.

-OR-

EDUCATION: Successful completion of three years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in an accredited educational institution concentrated in a field that is directly related to the work of this position, such as in biological sciences, ecology, wildlife biology, wildlife/fish management, or other related disciplines appropriate to this position. You must include transcripts.

-OR-

Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, applicants with 6 months of appropriate experience equivalent to the GS-9 (50% of the experience requirement), and 45 semester hours (50 percent of the education requirement to qualify for GS-11, in excess of that required for GS-9 positions) would be qualifying for the GS-11 grade level (assuming one year of graduate education is defined by the college or university as 18 semester hours).

Definition one year of graduate education: one year of graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) is considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full- time graduate study.

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.