The Department of Fish and Wildlife is recruiting to fill one full time, non-permanent, Fish & Wildlife Biologist 2 position located in the Habitat Program, Science Division. The duty station is in the Natural Resources Building, Olympia, Thurston County. The employment duration is funded through June 30, 2017.

The mission of WDFW is to preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities. The incumbent is a journey-level Fish and Wildlife Biologist that assists and supports this mission by acting as a field lead (field supervision of field staff) on a landscape study designed to reveal the effectiveness of the riparian buffers required along non-fish-bearing streams under the Forests and Fish Law in protecting public resources.  Responsibilities include: assisting with the hiring and training of seasonal field staff; field supervision of seasonal staff; data collection and assistance with fieldwork; data and records management; data quality control and summary. The incumbent will act as the primary field supervisor for approximately eight subordinate employees during field sampling periods. The incumbent represents critical support for work designed to identify the best approach to protecting public resources in headwater streams.

• Report development and revisions, data summary and reporting.
  • Formulate conclusions, write summaries; draft technical report sections for review by supervisory biologists; assist with response to formal reports post-Independent Science Panel Review (ISPR); assist with report revisions.
• Data and records management and summarization.
  • Ensure accurate and complete data collection and ensure regular and complete download of data into a database. Provide summaries of data collection progress or the data itself to the Supervisor upon request. Evaluate and analyze collected data; formulate conclusions.
• Supervise/lead seasonal field staff.
  • Field sampling involves overnight stays at camping sites or in provided housing consistently through the field season (potentially as long as 6-8 months out of the year, approximately April through September). Supervision includes oversight of field sampling as well as crew location and activities overnight. Field supervision includes assisting in the training of seasonal field crews in the proper sampling protocols, instruction of field teams in the location and layout of study sites, assignment of specific daily tasks to individual crew members, tracking of sampling progress at all study sites, ensuring that crew members remain calibrated in their collection of data, trouble shooting sampling and other issues in the field including making independent judgment calls regarding field sampling in the absence of the project manager, and communicating data collection progress and other issues to the Supervisor. The employee must also track equipment use and alert the Supervisor to any necessary repairs to equipment or vehicles.
• Project management.
  • Consults with other agencies, organizations and government units; reports progress to funding agency, attends meetings, develops reports; assist with hiring of seasonal staff; reports progress to joint committees; submits periodic progress reports outlining current project status, findings, plans, and recommendations
• Organize and conduct wildlife and habitat monitoring (riparian buffers, vegetation, forest practices, amphibian demographics, stream characteristics, wood debris loading) and research studies; determines extent of sampling necessary, tracks and assigns work; organizes and conducts research to determine the abundance and distribution of amphibians.
• Direct and assist with all field sampling, including but not limited to: amphibian demographic and genetics, stream characterization, woody debris evaluation, riparian vegetation, and trophic pathways. Assist with field season preparations (inventory field equipment, order and organize equipment, assign to seasonal staff).

Preferred/Desired Qualifications:
Two years professional experience conducting field research, preferably in the Pacific Northwest, familiarity with headwater stream systems and sampling protocols, familiarity with Pacific Northwest stream-associated amphibians, experience sampling stream-associated amphibians, experience collecting tissue samples for the purpose of genetic analysis, familiarity with tree and understory species commonly encountered throughout Pacific Northwest forestlands.

• Experience leading / supervising subordinate staff in a field setting.
• Familiarity with the use of handheld computers or other device for collecting data in the field.
• Familiarity with methods of successfully downloading data from handheld devices to Microsoft Access database while ensuring complete transfer of data and conducting quality control to assure data integrity. Familiarity managing data in an Access database.
• Experience writing and revising technical and professional reports.

Experience is based on full time equivalency (i.e., 40 or more hours/week).  Part time work is prorated (e.g., 20 hours/week for 6 years = 3 years of experience).  Do not count experience that was a part of your educational requirements.
*College course work involving major study in biology, zoology, fisheries, chemistry, natural sciences, or closely allied field will substitute, year for year, for experience, provided course work includes at least six semester hours or nine quarter hours of natural science classes.

• The working environment is a composite of field and office work. During the field season there will be some preparation and data management that can only occur in the office. During the field season the crew leader can anticipate spending 90-95% of the time in the field or preparing to go in the field. While in the field, hiking off-trail through vegetation that may be extremely dense and up and down steep slopes will be required. While in the field employees will at times be required to carry a heavy pack (< 40 pounds) and haul awkward equipment (e.g. rebar). Field work requires that some time be spent on hands and knees in the stream, crawling through dense understory and woody debris. Field crews are generally away from their duty station (Olympia, Natural Resources Building) every week during the field season, over-night camping or staying in fish hatchery housing near study sites three nights a week. The employee must be eager and able to spend up to three nights a week in the field, away from Olympia. They must also be comfortable with large groups of field personnel. At study sites employees are expected to work both independently and in groups of two or three. Employees must be comfortable navigating throughout managed landscapes on foot in some study sites that have been recently harvested (clearcut 7-8 years ago), over downed trees and wood that may be slippery, through dense vegetation and up streams that may be slippery. Employees must be comfortable navigating and driving on logging roads located in Federal, State, and Private forestlands throughout western Washington. Office field work requires long periods sitting in front of a computer and looking at a computer screen.
• Schedule (i.e., hours and days): 4 10-hr days, Monday through Thursday.
• Travel Requirements: Camping in the field or staying in provided housing will be expected during most workweeks throughout the field season, one to two nights a week, Monday to Thursday, during the field season (typically May through September). Camp or housing locations are located throughout western Washington.
• Tools and Equipment: Employee must be able and willing to drive vehicles (4WD trucks and SUVs) on logging roads located in Federal, State, and Private forestlands throughout western Washington. They will be required to wear rubber boots and sometimes caulked boots in order to navigate through and across areas of slippery downed wood. Employee must be able to use a handheld computer or other device to collect field data and enter it into menu driven data sheets located on the PDA, capture and handle live amphibians, collect tissue for the purpose of genetic analysis, measure and weigh small individual amphibians, use handheld tools to cut through woody debris, carry a backpack (up to 40 pounds) on uneven terrain.

Union
This position is covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the State of Washington, Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Washington Association of Fish and Wildlife Professionals (WAFWP).  As a condition of employment you must either join the union and pay union dues, or pay the union a representational or other fee within 30 days of the date you are put into pay status.

How to Apply:
To apply for this position you MUST complete your profile at www.careers.wa.gov and attach the following to your profile before completing the online application:

• A cover letter describing how you meet the qualifications of this position (generic cover letter will not be accepted),
• A current resume (please make it succinct),
• Three professional references (personal references do not count as professional).

Please note:  Failure to follow the above application instructions will lead to disqualification.  E-mailed documents will not be accepted in lieu of attaching your documents to the online profile.

Upon submission of your online application, you will immediately receive a confirming e-mail.  You will then be notified via e-mail of your status during the process.  In addition to the e-mail notifications, you can check the status of your application at any time by visiting your online profile at www.careers.wa.gov.  Due to the high volume of applications that we receive, we ask your understanding and encourage you to use the online process and avoid calling for information.