Biologists and a Supervisory Biologist/Hydrologist

The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Upper Midwest Water Science Center (UMid WSC) is pleased to announce we are seeking to fill several positions in the Integrated Ecosystems Team. The positions include a Supervisory Biologist/Hydrologist GS-13 position who will oversee the Integrated Ecosystems Team, and 1-2 Biologists (GS-11/12) who will work under this supervisor. These staff will work with a team of scientists on studies related to the occurrence, distribution, and ecological effects of nutrients in the environment. The team conducts ecological studies at local, regional, national, and international scales in rivers, lakes, and Great Lakes. The new employees will join a collaborative group of scientists that are distributed across our 3-state center (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota).

The Supervisory Biologist/Hydrologist will be hired at a GS-13 and will be responsible for overseeing a team of scientists with a wide range in expertise and career stage. The new supervisor will lead one of nine theme-based science teams in the organization that executes the investigative studies portion of our portfolio, which represents ~$16 million in annual funding. The Supervisory Hydrologist/Biologist will join a cohort of 8 other science team supervisors that regularly collaborate across team and state boundaries and provide expertise to the Chief Science Officer. Duties include first-line supervision of ~9 employees and oversight of the research conducted within the team, staff and science coordination across the nine teams, and conducting and publishing ecosystem-scale research related to hydrology and/or biology that meets cooperator needs. Supervisory duties generally account for ~30% of the position, with the expectation that the other 70% of the position will be science and research activities.

The Biologist positions will be hired at either a GS-11 or GS-12, and we are seeking scientists with experience and expertise in nutrients and harmful algal blooms. Duties include collecting, analyzing, and interpreting ground and surface water data related to excess nutrients and HABs, preparing results for scientific conferences and peer-reviewed publications, and contribute as a collaborative team member on multi-disciplinary projects. Note that you can apply for the Biologist positions in two ways: either as a GS-11 or GS-12 regular term employee (1-year appointments with potential for renewal up to 4 years) or as a GS-11 term employee in the Pathways Recent Graduate program. The Pathways Recent Graduate Program is different in two key ways: 1) you must be within 2 years of graduation from a qualifying educational institution, and 2) the position is eligible to be converted from a term to a permanent position between years 1-4 of employment given successful completion of the program and job performance.