USDA Research Hydrologist (Agricultural Research Service)
OPENING DATE: 12/15/2016
CLOSING DATE: 12/21/2016
DEPARTMENT: Agricultural Research Service
JOB TYPE: Full-time
SALARY: $71,112 – $92,445 / Per Year
POSITION OVERVIEW:
Find Solutions to Agricultural Problems that Affect Americans Every Day, From Field to Table.
This position is with the Southwest Watershed Research Center (SWRC) located in Tucson, Arizona whose mission is to develop knowledge and technology to conserve soil and water in semi-arid lands. The incumbent would serve as a Research Hydrologist performing duties stated below.
This position requires the selectee to undergo a pre-employment check and a full background investigation. Any offer made is considered a tentative job offer pending the outcome of the pre-employment check. Retention in the position is based upon a favorable adjudication of the background investigation. The incumbent will be subject to periodic reinvestigations.
Research scientists have open-ended promotion potential. Research accomplishments and their impact on the duties and responsibilities of positions are evaluated periodically. The grade level is limited only by the individual’s demonstrated ability to perform research of recognized importance to science and technology. *Final grade level may be determined by a peer review panel.
As a research scientist, the incumbent is a member of a team delivering scientifically defensible technology to ARS, universities, action agencies, and other state and local agencies. The incumbent’s objectives fit broadly under the umbrella of ecohydrology. The specific objectives of the incumbents independent and cooperative research are to:
1) Understand the physical, chemical and biological processes controlling how climate and management interact with vegetation communities over regional and continental scales.
2) Understand how the vegetation communities determine water supply and quality through comparisons across research networks.
3) Evaluate land management practices and policies across the West so watersheds can continue to provide beneficial ecosystem services while adapting to a changing climate.
4) Use new process understanding to improve theory and simulation models of water-limited ecohydrologic processes at point to watershed scales and to develop decision support tools for watershed management.
5) Establish and collaborate with scientists from the research unit, universities, private and public sectors on technical matters concerning the hydrological cycle in dryland regions.
6) Conduct independent and team research to improve process representation in models as well as represent management impacts on forest and rangeland watershed processes. Transfers the resulting knowledge and technology to action agency cooperators and customers through scholarly publications, model training, and presentations to scientific and resource management groups.
7) Represent ARS to other federal and non-federal agencies, and research partners in areas of research expertise.
Occasional travel required (at least 2 weeks per visit to collaborating field research sites across the West will be required).
QUALIFICATIONS:
Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of the announcement including the following specialized experience and/or education, as identified by grade level.
Your education and experience will be evaluated against all qualification requirements (basic and any additional requirements) listed below.
Graduate education must be directly related to the work of the position and must have equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.
Basic Requirements for 1315 Hydrology:
1. Degree – physical or natural science, or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in any combination of courses in hydrology, the physical sciences, geophysics, chemistry, engineering science, soils, mathematics, aquatic biology, atmospheric science, meteorology, geology, oceanography, or the management or conservation of water resources. The course work must have included at least 6 semester hours in calculus (including both differential and integral calculus), and at least 6 semester hours in physics. Calculus and physics are requirements for all grade levels.
OR
2. Combination of education and experience including coursework in hydrology, the physical sciences, geophysics, chemistry meteorology, geology, oceanography, or the management or conservation of water resources, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Evaluation of Experience: Acceptable experience must have included performance of scientific functions related to the study of water resources, based on and requiring a professional knowledge of related sciences and the consistent application of basic scientific principles to the solution of theoretical and practical hydrologic problems. The following is illustrative of acceptable experience: field or laboratory work that would require application of hydrologic theory and related sciences such as geology, geo-chemistry, geophysics, or civil engineering to making observations, taking samples, operating instruments, assembling data from source materials, analyzing and interpreting data, and reporting findings orally and in writing. In some cases, professional scientific experience that is not clearly water resource experience may be acceptable if such experience was preceded by appropriate education in hydrology or by professional hydrology experience. Applicants with related experience in hydrology gained through earlier Federal Government employment might have gained that experience in one or more occupational series. Such series include Soil Conservation, GS-457; Forestry, GS-460; Soil Science, GS-470; Civil Engineering, GS-810; Chemistry, GS-1320; Meteorology, GS-1340; and Geology, GS-1350. Comparable non-Federal experience may be given similar credit.
Additional Requirements:
GS-12: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or an equivalent combination of graduate level education and experience. Graduate education must be directly related to the work of the position and must have equipped applicants with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work
OR
1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. The specialized experience requirements for the GS-12 grade level of this position are:
- Experience planning and implementing research on hydrologic processes in agricultural settings; including identifying needed areas of research, developing appropriate experimental designs, setting research goals and determining strategies to achieve them, and coordinating with research collaborators; and
- Experience applying scientific principles, methods, and processes to conduct systematic and objective assessments of hydrological processes in agricultural landscapes; including study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; and
- Experience populating and using databases and management of research data including applications in geographic information systems and simulation models for agricultural ecosystems; and
- Experience in using hydrologic measurements and instrumentation in experimental applications and interpreting and reporting results.
Applicants must address the specialized experience requirements in their resume (or application documents). Applications that do not reflect the specialized experience requirements will not be deemed qualified.
Applicants must be available to report for duty at the time a selection is made. Selections are typically made within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.
For more information on the qualifications for this position, click here:
http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/Standards/group-stds/gs-admin.asp
CONFIDENTIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT: Federal employees are subject to prohibitions against officially dealing with outside organizations in which they have a financial interest. If hired for this position, you may be required to submit a financial disclosure report within 30 days of the effective date of your appointment and annually thereafter.
To be considered for a research scientist position, you must submit a one-page abstract of your MS thesis and/or Ph.D. dissertation. Also, submit a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of persons familiar with your stature, contributions, recognition; any honors or awards received; memberships in professional or honor societies; invitations to make presentations at scientific/technical meetings; scientific society office and committee assignments; presentations (other than invitation); and publications.
To apply visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/459678300/