Fish Biologist

Salary: $76,203.00 to $99,069.00 Per Year

You will serve as a Fish Biologist within the Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lake Champlain Fish & Wild Conservation Office, Essex Junction, Vermont.

Major duties

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Coordinates field activities with other federal and state agencies, local public officials, and the general public to advance and advise on sea lamprey control activities in Lake Champlain. Participates as technical expert on sea lampreys in subgroups of the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative and multi-agency task forces. Plans, coordinates, and schedules tasks based upon workload and program priorities. Leads members of team to complete work plan objectives and other field activities following appropriate protocols and safety policy. Ensures inventory and procurement of equipment, materials, and supplies to meet operational needs. Responsible for the proper use, care, and maintenance of equipment used in field operations, including HPLC systems. Draws conclusions from complex data to recommend control actions. Performs statistical analysis on data to support conclusions and recommendations. Uses appropriate software tools to draft reports and illustrative materials. Prepares and delivers presentations at professional meetings, conferences, and symposia.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/22/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications: Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following: A. Degree: major in biological science that included at least 6 semester hours in aquatic subjects such as limnology, ichthyology, fishery biology, aquatic botany, aquatic fauna, oceanography, fish culture, or related courses in the field of fishery biology; AND at least 12 semester hours in the animal sciences in such subjects as general zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, entomology, parasitology, ecology, cellular biology, genetics, or research in these fields. (Excess course work in aquatic subjects may be used to meet this requirement when appropriate.) You must submit transcripts. -OR- B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), of which a minimum of 6 semester hours were in aquatic subjects and 12 semester hours were in the animal sciences, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level: Experience: To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Drafting works plans to meet program objectives; 2) Analyzing scientific data and drawing conclusions from the data to recommend management actions; 3) Collaborating with professional scientists and other representatives on fisheries concerns and/or research; 4) Preparing reports of scientific findings and delivering presentations at professional meetings, conferences, and symposia. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- Education: Successful completion of at least 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in the biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or closely related field which provided the knowledge skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position. You must include transcripts. -OR- Combination of education and experience as listed above. To combine education and experience, first take the total qualifying education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. Then take the number of months of full-time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the percentages together. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include hours per week and 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.