Fish Biologist

Summary This is a fish biologist position located in the mountains of beautiful White Sulphur Springs, WV working with rainbow trout at a National Broodstock Facility of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The hatchery provides 3-8 million eggs annually to federal, state and tribal partners across the nation. The primary responsibilities will be to provide support for hatchery operations, outreach and a variety of issues relating to the management and conservation of fish and aquatic species. Responsibilities This position is located within the Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 5 , White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. At the full performance level (GS-11) the major duties of this position include, but are not limited to the following: Develop and review comprehensive hatchery management plans and coordinate with other fishery programs that affect biological resources such as fish culture, hatchery quality control, fishery management assistance, and assessing fish populations. Plan and conduct a wide variety of complex investigations, including data design, collection and analysis of biological data to evaluate fish culture techniques, land and water impacts and assist with implementing hatchery reform initiatives. Plan and conduct a wide variety of complex investigations, including the design, collection and analysis of biological data pertaining to species reared and released from National Fish Hatcheries. Plan and conduct inspections and evaluations of existing projects to ensure legal standards and other requirements are met. Communicate and coordinate with the public, partners, agencies and Tribes; present project results at meetings and respond to inquiries consistent with Service policies. The White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework only during an emergency or natural disaster. Salary Information GS-07: Step 1: $50,460 - Step 10: $65,599 per annum. GS-09: $61,722 - Step 10: $80,243 per annum. First time hires to the Federal government normally start at the lower salary range of the grade level. This vacancy may be used to fill additional positions as vacancies become available. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen. You will be subject to a background/suitability investigation/determination. You will be required to have federal payments made by Direct Deposit. You must submit ALL required documents and a completed questionnaire. Selective Service: If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, you must certify that you have registered with the Selective Service system, or are exempt from having to do so under the Selective Service Law. See http://www.sss.gov/. Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment. Uniform: Official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uniform is required. You may be required to work on-call, evenings, weekends, holidays, overtime and/or shift work. Government housing may be available but is not guaranteed As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1-year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest. This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/14/2026-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 (1) Basic Educational Requirements AND (2) Specialized Experience for the series to which you are applying. (1) Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, applicants must meet the Education Requirements described below: A. Degree: possess a degree in biological science that included (a) 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 (b) 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.). OR B. Combination of education and experience -- course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. -AND- (2) Specialized Experience: GS-07 Experience: To qualify for the GS-07, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Assisting with basic hatchery operations or fish culture tasks under close supervision. 2) Performing routine biological or ecological fieldwork such as sampling, measuring, observing fish or aquatic organisms. 3) Recording and entering biological data into tracking systems or databases with attention to accuracy and protocol adherence. 4) Communicating factual biological information to internal staff, partners and the public as directed. 5) Supporting staff by preparing simple data summaries, routine charts, or basic written materials. Must meet 4 out 5 requirements. NOTE: Your resume must contain sufficient information in these areas to be found qualified. OR Education: one year (18 semester hours) of graduate education in biology or a closely related field which provided me with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully complete the work of the position. OR Superior Academic Qualification: Possess a bachelor's degree in a curriculum that is qualifying for this position AND meet one of the Superior Academic Achievement Provisions. 1. Maintained a grade-point average of "B" (a GPA of 3.0 or higher) for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. - OR 2. Maintained a grade-point average "B+" (a GPA of 3.5 or higher) for all courses in your major field of study, or those courses in your major completed in the last two years of undergraduate study. -OR- 3. Rank in the upper one-third of your class in the college, university, or major subdivision. -OR- 4. Am a member of a national honor (other than freshman honor societies) recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies. Please submit a college transcript(s) showing your grade point average for all four years of undergraduate study, including all transferred courses. NOTE: GPA's are rounded to one decimal place. For example, 2.95 will round to 3.0 and 2.94 will round to 2.9. If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail or similar basis, your claim must be based on class standing or membership in an honor society. OR Combination education and experience: as described in A and B above which together equals 100% of the requirement. Specialized Experience: GS-09 Experience: To qualify for the GS-09, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level in the Federal service, or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience: 1) Assisting in biological data collection, sampling, monitoring or tagging of fish or aquatic species using established methods. 2) Assisting in hatchery or fishery operations, such as spawning of fish and egg picking and shipping, following established protocols. 3) Supporting hatchery operations by compiling biological data, entering information into databases, and preparing basic analyses. 4) Coordinating with partners, agencies and the public to organize events, tours, presentations and meetings to represent the hatchery and Service. Must meet all. NOTE: Your resume must contain sufficient information in these areas to be found qualified. OR Education: Two years (36 semester hours) of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree closely related field which clearly provided me with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully complete the work of the position. OR Combination education and experience: as described in A and B above which together equals 100% of the requirement. Additional information on the qualification requirements is outlined in the OPM Qualification Standards Handbook of General Schedule Positions and is available at OPM's website: https://www.opm.gov/qualifications/standards/indexes/num-ndx.asp All qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of this announcement. Merit Promotion candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements by the closing date of the announcement. Education Education: If this position requires specific educational course work to qualify, or you are qualifying based in whole or part on education, you are required to provide transcripts as proof of meeting the requirements. Foreign Education: Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the specific educational requirements as stated above. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-policies/#url=e4 Additional Information Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended and Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here: https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/articles/29112781465108-Reasonable-Accommodation-Overview Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position. Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation on the part of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. Promotion will depend upon administrative approval and the continuing need for and performance of higher-level duties. The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361.