This position is located at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in the Resource Management Division. The primary purpose of these positions is to support the Aquatic Resources Program by monitoring and surveying aquatic and wetland species, habitats, and environmental conditions. The typical seasonal entry-on-duty period is Apr-May but may vary due to weather, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: May 2026
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-05/11/2026-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. To qualify for this position at the GS-6 grade level, 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-05 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Examples of qualifying specialized experience include work involving Biological science support such as collecting, analyzing, and processing samples; performing laboratory work; conducting surveys for aquatic organisms; assisting with the management of field projects; collecting, processing, and managing field data; installing, operating, and maintaining resource-management equipment (including tools, sampling and monitoring gear, photographic equipment, and laboratory instruments); and preparing graphs, charts, and illustrations for reports and technical publications. You must include hours worked per week. -OR- EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least one full year of graduate education in an accredited educational institution (18 semester hours) in coursework directly related to the work of this position (such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, natural resource management). You must include transcripts. You must include transcripts. -OR- COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. For example, 6 months of specialized experience (50% of experience requirement), and 6 months of graduate education as described above (50% of education requirement). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts. 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.
Surveys and identifies fish, freshwater mussels, crayfish, and other aquatic species. Collects routine water-quality and biological samples. Analyzes water-quality samples in a laboratory setting. Enters data into spreadsheets, databases, and geodatabases; performs quality-control checks on collected and entered data. Maintains project equipment, supplies, schedules, checklists, maps, data, and records. Observes natural resource conditions in the field; assesses conditions, identifies issues, and makes preliminary determinations of causes. Provides findings to higher-level specialists for further analysis, including recommendations for protection and mitigation actions. Assists with reports, plans, and guidance documents; drafts project reports with literature reviews, methods, graphs, charts, and summaries of findings. Note: In support of Executive Order (EO) 14189, "Celebrating America's 250th Birthday," and EO 14314, "Making America Beautiful Again by Improving Our National Parks," the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approved an exception to the 1,039-hour limit for this position, extending the maximum to 1,560 hours for this temporary seasonal appointment.