Job Announcement: Students Needed for Two Field Botanist Positions

Time period: June â€" August, 2005
Where: Morgantown, West Virginia
Salary: Approximately $11-13/ hour (GS 4 or 5), depending on education and experience; this is a temporary government position without benefits.
Skills Needed: Applicants should have a background or very strong interest in botany, plant taxonomy, and plant ecology. Applicants with previous field experience collecting herbaceous and woody data and who have knowledge of the mid-Atlantic flora will be given higher consideration.
Responsibilities: The selected field botanists will be responsible for field data collection for four research projects this summer, including a study on seed dispersal of Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass), an evaluation of the effects of residual trees post-harvest on understory flora, a study on the effects deer and harvesting on understory flora, and a study on the effects of deer, harvesting, and fire on understory flora dominated by Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hayscented fern). Other duties may include pressing and mounting herbarium specimens, assisting with growth chamber experiments, and data entry. Training will be provided.
Logistics: The selected field botanists must be stationed in Morgantown, WV or nearby. Housing is not provided, but we can help you find reasonable accommodations. There will be extensive travel requiring each person to be away from home 4 days a week (sometimes 5) nearly every week during the summer. Travel will involve driving (vehicles provided; current driver’s license required) to northern Pennsylvania and at least three different locations in West Virginia, requiring several overnight stays. Travel costs (hotel and per diem) are reimbursed after each weekly trip. Field conditions include working in the rain, in steep terrain, and with insects, ticks, and occasional rattlesnakes. Those selected should be physically fit (i.e., able to stoop and squat for long periods and walk long distances).
Application Procedure: Please send your resume, transcripts (copies are fine), and a signed letter from your college/university (professor or registrar official) confirming that you are a student and will be a student in Fall 2005 to:
Dr. Cynthia Huebner
NE Research Station
USDA Forest Service
180 Canfield St.
Morgantown, WV 26505
If you have further questions about the position, please contact Dr. Huebner at 304-285-1582 or chuebner@fs.fed.us.