You are viewing a preview of this job. Log in or register to view more details about this job.

Watershed Health Monitoring ETech

Washington State Department of Ecology
Email

   

   The Department of Ecology's priority during the Covid-19 health crisis is to keep our staff, candidates, and the public safe. We are still hiring and encourage you to apply to open positions. The majority of our staff are currently working from home; we have transitioned to a virtual recruitment process, to include web-based interviews. 
 
Keeping Washington Clean and Evergreen

 
Protecting Washington State's environment for current and future generations is what we do every day at Ecology. We are a culture that is invested in making a difference. If you want to join a team that is highly effective, collaborative, has leadership that embraces the value of people, and believes in the fun factor, Ecology is a good fit.
 
The Environmental Assessment Program (EAP) program within the Department of Ecology is looking to fill five Watershed Health Monitoring (WHM) Environmental Technician positions for the summer 2021 field season.
 
The WHM positions will be located in Lacey, WA with work primarily focused in the Puget Sound area with some sample sites statewide. Travel and lodging will be reimbursed by the Department of Ecology.

The WHM positions will start June 16, 2021 and will go to no later than October 15, 2021. The end date of work is flexible and depends on how the field season goes. Students needing to return to school in the fall are still encouraged to apply.

These entry-level positions give you the opportunity to use what you've learned in school and apply it to environmental sampling techniques. Some of the key work activities include: hiking, field navigation, biological monitoring, water quality sampling, habitat surveys and using different types of monitoring equipment. The information that you collect will help assess the condition of streams and watersheds. The data is used to describe the status and trends of watershed health and other environmental conditions to better inform natural resource conservation and management plans.
 
We are looking for applicants who are motivated, adaptable, team-oriented, dedicated and who have a desire to gain experience in environmental sampling.
 
As an agency, our mission is to protect, preserve and enhance Washington's environment for current and future generations. We invest in our employees to create and sustain a working environment that encourages creative leadership, effective resource management, teamwork, professionalism and accountability.
 
To learn more about The Department of Ecology, please visit our website at www.ecology.wa.gov and follow, like or visit us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or our blog.
 

 Local efforts... Diverse people... Statewide impacts

 
Duties
 
Some of the key work activities for the Watershed Health Monitoring (WHM) Environmental Technician positions are:

  • Under supervision and direction of professional staff, serves as field assistant on a 4-member crew conducting watershed health protocols including physical stream surveys, measuring various chemical parameters and collecting biological samples.
  • Provides initial review of the raw data recorded in the field for completeness and overall quality. 
  • Suggests refining data collection methods. 
  • Collects water quality samples. 
  • Assists with field work preparation every week before the scheduled sampling. 
  • Collects all samples following Standard Operating Procedures in a timely fashion. 
  • Is responsible for field equipment maintenance and organization, including calibration of Hach multi-probe. 
  • Reads QAPP/QAMP, SOPs, and other required protocols within the first two weeks in order to successfully assist in conducting all the field data collection events below. 
  • Assists with water quality sample collection. 
  • Hikes in remote areas with rugged terrain and a heavy pack.
  • Helps with habitat surveys. 
  • Assists with benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. 
  • Helps assess fish assemblage. 
  • Assists with boat operation duties. 
  • Helps with quality assurance review of environmental data. 
  • Participates in unit, section, and program meetings as appropriate. 
  • Attends and stays current on required trainings, especially safety trainings.
 
  
The five (5) WHM positions will start June 16, 2021 and end no later than October 15, 2021. The end date is flexible and depends on how the field season goes. These positions will be based in Lacey, WA but work primarily in the Puget Sound area with possible site statewide. Training will occur in Lacey, WA.
 
Travel and lodging will be reimbursed by the Department of Ecology. The field work schedule will be 10 hour shifts, work 4 days per week.
 
Qualifications
 


Required Qualifications

There are multiple ways to qualify for this position. See options below:
 
Options 1: Graduation from high school or GED equivalent AND Two (2) years of technical or clerical (level 3) experience such as performing the duties as an Office Assistant 3 in an environmental agency or an office.
 
Option 2: College-level course work in environmental, physical or natural sciences, or closely related field may be substituted, year for year, for the required experience.
 
 Additional experience and education combinations that meet the requirements for this position:
 Possible CombinationsCollege credit hours or degree (see option 2 above)Years of required experience (see experience listed in option 1 above)Combination 1Graduation from high school or GED equivalent.2 years of experienceCombination 2I have 30-59 semester or 45-89 quarter credits.1 year of experienceCombination 3I have 60-89 semester or 90-134 quarter credits (AA degree).No experience 

Desired Qualifications

We highly encourage you to apply even if you do not have some (or all) of the desired experience below.

Experience operating boats and related equipment. Experience collecting water quality samples, and operating aquatic sampling equipment.
  • Navigation skills and experience using paper maps.
  • Read documents for accurate comprehension and action.
  • The following is a list of office machines, equipment, tools, motor vehicles that may be used on the job: Computer, telephone, copy machine, network printer, continuous data monitors, field meters, electro-fisher, operate boats, database software, spreadsheet software, word processing software, statistics software, van/vehicle; Habitat measures (leveling rod, measuring tape, canopy densiometer, clinometer, compass; hand level, flow meter); Chemistry measures (Hydrolab minisonde); and GPS.
  • Coursework in Environmental Science, Fisheries Biology, Chemistry, Forestry or related field.
  • Experience collecting water samples and measuring streamflow, stream habitat assessment.
  • Some experience with data analysis and data management.
  • Good communication and writing skills.
  • Freshwater community ecology and biological taxonomy and life history knowledge.
  • Certification for First Aid/CPR.
  • Ability to swim.
 
Note: Having some (or all) of this desired experience may make your application more competitive in a highly competitive applicant pool.
 
Physical Requirements
  • Working in remote and rugged locations under a variety of weather conditions.
  • Traveling long distances in agency vehicles.
  • Frequent fieldwork that requires both overnight and day trips. 
  • Traversing uneven and sometimes slippery terrain to access stream study sites.
  • Ability to maneuver sampling equipment in a small boat.
  • Ability to swim.
  • Ability to lift and carry 50 lbs.
  • Perform physical labor required to install monitoring equipment. 
  • Work with a computer in a cubicle for long periods of time.

Special Requirements/Conditions of Employment 
 
  • Must have a valid driver's license.
  • Maintain current certification for first aid/CPR (training is provided by Ecology).
Supplemental Information
Application Instructions:
  
Please include the following documents as an attachment to your application:
  • A cover letter describing how your experience, skills and abilities meet the required qualifications of this position. 
  • A resume outlining your professional experience.
Important Note: 
When attaching documents to your application (Resume, Cover Letter, Transcripts, DD-214, etc.):
  • Please be sure to remove private information such as your social security number, date of birth, etc. 
  • Do not attach documents that are password protected as these documents may not be reviewed and may cause errors within your application when downloaded. 
 
Please to do NOT include your salary history. Wage/salary depends on qualifications or rules of promotion, if applicable. 

It is in the candidate's best interest to submit all of the documents requested above. Applications without these documents may be declined.
 
Department of Ecology employees, please make sure to answer the agency-wide questions regarding permanent status as a classified employee within the Washington General Service or Washington Management Service. Do not forget to select Department of Ecology as a response to question 2, and type your personnel ID number for question 3. If you are not sure of your status or do not know your personnel ID number, please contact Human Resources.
 
If you are reading this announcement in print format, please visit www.careers.wa.gov to access the online recruitment system. Click on "Look for Jobs" and select Dept. of Ecology under the "Department" search list. Click "Apply Search."
 
Other Information:
 
If you need assistance applying for this job, please e-mail careers@ecy.wa.gov. Please do not send an email to this address to follow-up the status of your application. You can view the latest status of your application on your profile's main page.
 
If you have specific questions about the positions, please email: 
 
Please do not contact Scott to inquire about the status of your application.
 
The act of submitting application materials electronically is considered affirmation that the information is complete and truthful. The state may verify this information and any untruthful or misleading answers are cause for rejection of your application or dismissal if employed.

This is a position covered by a bargaining unit for which the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) is the exclusive representative. 
 
This recruitment may be used to fill other positions of the same job classification across the agency. Once all the position(s) from the recruitment announcement are filled, the recruitment may only be used to fill additional open positions for the next sixty (60) days.

The Washington State Department of Ecology is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, veterans, military spouses or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application/testing process or this job announcement in an alternative format may call (360) 407-6186. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.