Fish Biologist
What you'd do
You will serve as a Fish Biologist with R-1 Mid-Columbia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office working in Yakima, Washington. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and shift work. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the step 1 rate.
Major duties
Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following: Develops and reviews comprehensive management plans and coordinates with external partners and programs that affect biological resources including, but not limited to: fishery management, sampling for exotic species, assessing fish and mussel populations, and recommending habitat restoration/management actions. Plans and conducts a wide variety of complex investigations including the design, collection, and analysis of biological data to evaluate the impacts of land and water development activities upon the fishery resources of an area. Plans, organizes and implements biological and/or habitat development activities that affect aquatic resources. Prepares reports on progress and completion of activities and formulates recommendations that guide future programs and influences the improvements in management practices. Fosters and maintains good working relations with other Fish and Wildlife Service Programs, other Federal agencies, state agencies, tribal agencies and private resource-oriented groups within the assigned area of responsibility for promoting cooperative efforts in solving fishery resource problems. Participates in technical work group meetings and scientific conferences. Advocates for agency trust species and other species of concern. Drafts grants and agreements that provide or are in receipt of funds and services for activities related to coordination, aquatic habitat restoration, biological monitoring and fishery management investigations.
What you need to qualify
Qualifications: All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 08/20/2026-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: with 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: course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. - AND - To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level: A. 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) developing and sustaining effective working relationships with partners, stakeholders, and interagency collaborators to support and advance conservation objectives. 2) collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and summarizing biological, ecological, or programmatic data and communicating findings clearly through written reports, briefings, and oral presentations. and 3) formulating and providing resource management recommendations that promote the conservation of fish and wildlife resources while considering and balancing the needs of diverse water users and other competing interests.. You must include hours per week worked. -OR- B. 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. (Degree must reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.). You must include transcripts. -OR- C. Combination of graduate education beyond the first two years of progressive graduate study and appropriate experience as listed above. 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.
Before you apply
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