Field Botanist

Title: Field Botanist

State Role Title: Scientist II

Hiring Range: $55,000 - $65,000

Pay Band: 5

Agency: Dept Conservation & Recreation

Location: Roanoke, VA

Agency Website: www.dcr.virginia.gov

Recruitment Type: General Public - G

Job Duties

As part of the DCR-DNH Inventory Section and reporting to the Staff Botanist, this Field Botanist will serve as the project lead for DCR-DNH’s Good Neighbor Agreement with the US Forest Service (USFS).

The Field Botanist will be responsible for:

• Leading all botanical surveys on the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest under the Good Neighbor agreement with the US Forest Service (USFS).
• Using field surveys to document occurrences of wild plants that are tracked by DCR as rare in Virginia, listed by USFWS and Virginia as threatened or endangered, and/or listed by USFS as Regional Forester Sensitive Species.
• Curating all resulting observation data and creating voucher collections of their finds, as well as compiling each season’s data for inclusion in DCR-DNH's Biotics database.
• Leading progress between the USFS and DCR’s Botany, Zoology, and Ecology teams, to include, coordinating annual meetings between agencies, compiling geographic data, and writing brief quarterly reports.
• Supervising one seasonal Botany Field Technician to support the position in the field.

This is a restricted position, which is solely funded by the Good Neighbor Agreement with the US Forest Service (USFS) for a 10-year period ending 09/30/2035. The availability of funding is scheduled for review before the grant expiration date and periodically thereafter. Continued employment is contingent on the continued availability of funds.

This position will be based in Roanoke, VA and is telework eligible.

The Virginia Department of Conservations and Recreations (DCR) is the state’s lead conservation agency, and it takes a diverse agency to conserve resources for a diverse commonwealth.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation offers paid leave; 13 paid holidays; medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; retirement plans (including 401a Cash Match and 457 Deferred Compensation Plan for classified positions, and VaLORS for law enforcement positions); and is a federally recognized Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) employer.

DCR’s Mission is to conserve the natural, scenic, historic, and cultural resources of the Commonwealth. We invite you to learn more about DCR’s efforts to CONSERVE.

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated facility in identifying wild vascular plants in Virginia using technical floristic keys.
• Experience in collecting scientific plant specimens and using plant presses.
• Experience navigating in the wilderness using GPS and maps of contour lines and property boundaries.
• Experience creating, organizing, and analyzing datasets on field observations, and experience producing field reports.
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office software, Windows OS, and ESRI ArcPro.

Additional Considerations

• Experience taking field notes in ESRI Field Maps on a mobile device, or a similar application, such as Collector or Avenza.
• Experience driving a vehicle in off-highway situations with unpredictable road conditions.
• Experience coordinating with multiple collaborators at once, through in-person work, email, and calls.
• Experience supervising staff and/or volunteers.
• Familiarity with Natural Heritage methodology.
• Training in ecology or biology.
• Field identification and microscope skills in bryology.

Special Instructions

The selected candidate must be willing and able to work non-traditional hours, including frequent overnight trips and several-hour driving commutes to reach field sites across the Forest. The selected candidate must also be able to walk several miles per day off-trail, while carrying a field pack through thick vegetation and rugged or wet terrain, and in summertime weather conditions.