Botany Crew Lead (Inyo NF; Bishop, CA)

The Great Basin Institute, in cooperation with the USFS, is recruiting Botany Crew Lead to perform vegetation surveys and manage invasive plant species on the Inyo National Forest. This project will contribute to the Basin & Range Forestry program’s mission of assisting the USFS in their critical goal of improving forest resilience in the face of worsening climate conditions and increasing wildfire threats. The work you will do will directly enhance the quality of California’s forests, ensuring their continued vitality for generations to come.

The Botany Crew Lead will support agency staff and crew members in conducting botanical surveys to establish distributional occurrences of targeted species and populations in designated project sites and access routes. Data gathered from these surveys will inform mitigation measures designed to protect targeted plant species, manage the prevalence of invasive species, and safeguard vegetation communities that provide habitat for wildlife. The Crew Lead will be responsible for crew safety and oversight, including coordination of daily tasks and project needs, providing or assisting in training, communicating regularly with agency staff to plan and assess crew accomplishments, and liaising with GBI staff as needed.

A Temporary Special Assignment (TSA) employee is one who is hired for a specific temporary assignment external from the institute’s administrative operations with one of GBI’s partners for 52 weeks or greater or less than 52 weeks and may work full-time (30 or more hours per week) or part-time (less than 30 hours per week).

Essential Job Functions may include the following:

• Conduct botanical surveys to determine species identity, population characteristics, environmental conditions, and factors affecting the vigor and extent of species and their habitat
• Implement the forests Integrated Pest Management System (IPM) to treat invasive species, including survey, treatment and monitoring of invasive plant species. Treatment will be conducted using chemical and mechanical methods.
• Utilize GIS to plan, track and report botanical surveys and Invasive species management actions
• Lead and mentor botany technicians

WORK SCHEDULE
This position is seasonal, running from mid-March to mid-November, with start and end dates dependent on project and weather conditions. Botany crew leads typically work four 10-hour days per week but the schedule may vary based on project needs. TSA employees are eligible for holiday pay, subject to partner approval, and will follow the partner’s holiday schedule unless otherwise specified in the employment offer. TSAs working four 10-hour days per week will receive 10 hours of pay for holidays; those working five 8-hour days per week will receive 8 hours of pay for holidays.

REQUIREMENTS/QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience conducting rare plant surveys and other botanical field work
• Experience using technical keys to identify plants to the species or subspecies level
• At least one year experience managing invasive species
• Ability to lead one crew member in surveying, inventorying, treating, and monitoring invasive species
• Experience safely handling, mixing, and transporting herbicide, and maintaining application equipment
• Possess a clean, valid, state-issued driver’s license with the ability to safely operate and maintain a 4WD vehicle on and off paved roads
• Ability to work effectively in a team setting with USFS staff, GBI staff, interns, volunteers, academic, state, and federal partners
• Proficiency in navigation using GPS, topographic map and compass;
• Ability to work safely and productively in remote field settings under adverse conditions. This includes occasionally overnight camping in remote areas for consecutive nights;
• Ability to understand, implement and adhere to established data collection protocols;
• Capacity to collect and maintain field data in an organized manner that is easily understood and accessible to other resource staff
• Strong organizational skills and ability to work cooperatively as well as independently;
• Strong communication skills with diverse audiences, both written and oral
• Physically fit to work outdoors, including hiking up to 10 miles a day with a heavy pack, carry 25 pounds continuously and 50 pounds occasionally, repeated digging and pulling, and similar actions.
• Experience leading crews in the field, including oversight of crew safety, communication, fidelity to methods and data quality
• Experience using ArcGIS to create maps; and