Pollinator Biologist, Student Service Contractor

Duration: September 01, 2018 to September 01, 2019 (with possible extension)

Salary: $31.54/hour (~$65,600/year)

Description:

The position is in support of a USGS research project at the Northern
Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC) in Jamestown, North Dakota.  The
applicant will be part of a multidisciplinary science team that studies how
land-use change affects the health and productivity of managed honey bees
and native bees.  The duty station for this position is Jamestown, ND.

Major Duties:

Serve as a member of a multidisciplinary research team conducting an
empirical evaluation of floral resources used by bees, and the relative
contribution of those resources to honey bees and native pollinator health
and productivity.

Responsible for managing field crew and field operations including
obtaining, cataloging and processing honey and native pollinator health and
foraging data throughout the Upper Midwest.

Conduct GIS analyses of pollinator habitat and threats.  Manipulate and
analyze large field and GIS datasets.

Identify fieldwork priorities and coordinate schedules to ensure timely
delivery of research products.

Manage and organize datasets related to pollinator health, forage, and
spatially explicit land use information surrounding each study location.

Manage the collection and preparation of pollen, nectar, and bee tissue
samples for analyses conducted at off-site laboratories.

Install honey bee hive and native bee monitoring equipment at remote field
sites in the Upper Midwest.

Contribute to the development of research study plans, and peer-reviewed
publications

Preferred Skills/Qualifications:

Ability to create maps, quantify landscape attributes, and present field
data in a spatially explicit manner using QGIS, ArcGIS, or R.

Skilled in managing, manipulating, and analyzing datasets in software such
as Access, R, and Excel.

Demonstrated ability at implementing field studies with an applied science
focus and leading groups of technicians.

Use of dichotomous keys to identify native bee specimens and flowering plants.

Skilled in identifying plants including native and non-native forbs,
invasive plants, and agricultural crops to document pollinator forage.

Demonstrated ability to analyze ecological datasets and contribute to
publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Required Criteria:

All applicants must be a current student or a recent (12 month) graduate
from a university.

The position is open to U.S. citizens.

Qualified applicants are required to have a Masters or Ph.D. in ecology,
entomology, restoration ecology, wildlife science, or a related field of
study.

To Apply:

Please send your cover letter, resume, three professional references, and
unofficial student transcripts to Clint Otto (cotto@usgs.gov).  Review of
applicants may begin immediately, but the positions will remain open until a
suitable candidate is selected. Applications received by August 06, 2018
will be provided full consideration. Please state your current academic
status and available start and end dates (if applicable) in your cover letter.