POSITION DETAILS
Position ID(s): 4376, 4377, 4378, 4379
Position Title: Ecology Assistant - AmeriCorps
Conservation Legacy Program: Scientists in Parks, Stewards Individual Placements
Site Location: Biscayne National Park, Homestead, Florida
Number of positions available: 4
TERMS OF SERVICE
Duration: 52 Weeks (not flexible)
Flexible Start Date: Yes
Start Date: 06/01/2026
End Date: 05/31/2027
AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 1700 hours - this is the minimum number of hours the selected candidate must serve throughout the duration of their position.
BENEFITS
- Segal AmeriCorps Education Award: $ 7,395.00 upon successful completion of position
- Weekly Living Allowance: $ 700.00 per week, fixed rate
- Relocation Allowance: $ 450.00 (distributed as a one-time lump sum with first paycheck)
- Student Loan Forbearance if applicable (administered by MyAmeriCorps, directly)
- Student Loan Interest Payments if applicable (administered through MyAmeriCorps, directly)
- For 52-week positions only:
- Free Healthcare Coverage (opt in)
- Childcare Coverage (opt in)
APPLICATION TIMELINE
Preference given to applicants who submit applications before Sunday, February 15, 2026. Applications will be reviewed after the application deadline passes. Positions will close after receiving 60 complete applications, or at 11:59 p.m. EST on February 15, 2026, whichever occurs first.
KEYWORDS: marine science, coral reef, seagrass, restoration, conservation, natural resources management, coral disease, marine debris, reef fisheries, invasive species
PURPOSE
This Ecology Assistant is an AmeriCorps position. The park was created largely to protect its incredible coral reef resources. Once extensive and thriving, the coral reef ecosystem is under attack and rapidly disappearing. Reef health in the park mirrors regional and global patterns of demise due to multiple factors including thermal stress, disease, ocean acidification, overfishing, coastal development, water quality degradation, and more. Several species of stony corals are now listed under the Endangered Species Act. Park corals have been hit particularly hard in recent years by ocean heat waves, hurricanes, and an ongoing and unprecedented coral disease outbreak that is deadly to 20+ coral species. In 2023, park reefs experienced a severe bleaching event caused by an unprecedented marine heatwave.
Park coral populations are at a historical low, and the park embraces active measures to conserve these precious resources. Coral reef health, coral restoration, and marine debris are our top priority resource concerns. Park staff are implementing the best available restoration and coral disease intervention methods, in an attempt to bolster vanishing coral populations and improve the health of the coral reef ecosystem. This service occurs in the context of a strong cooperative network of educational, non-profit, and agency partners who are committed to the stewardship and conservation of park resources. The goal of coral restoration in the park is to support coral populations until the time when abatement of regional and global stressors enables re-creation of ecosystems in which coral reefs can thrive. The proposed SIP participant will contribute to this goal by helping rebuild dwindling coral populations, restoring reef habitat, and reducing reef impacts.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
The SIP Coral Reef Conservation positions will be based in the Habitat Restoration Program and in the Fish, Wildlife, Inventory, and Monitoring Programs at Biscayne National Park. Two position will be placed in each of these programs. The positions will focus on the following primary initiatives that will further the park’s coral reef restoration and stewardship goals:
1. Large-scale outplanting of nursery-propagated corals (10%): SIPs will enhance coral populations by outplanting corals to multiple reef areas. The selected candidate will be responsible for helping stage corals at outplanting sites, install site markers, prepare outplanting sites, prepare reattachment materials, outplant the corals, and monitor reattachments.
2. Restoration of storm damaged corals (10%): Storm events, especially tropical storms and hurricanes, can result in extensive physical damage to coral reefs. Dislodged and broken corals (“corals of opportunity”, or COOs) provide an extremely valuable source of live tissue for restoration. SIPs identify, translocate, reattach, and monitor COOs.
3. Treating corals affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (10%): SIPs will treat diseased corals with an antibiotic ointment across many reef areas of the park. The SIP will be responsible for preparing and administering the treatment ointment, and documenting treatment applications (noting coral species, size, treatment methods, site coordinates; installing marker tags; and photographing treatments).
4. Larval propagation of protected coral species during annual spawning events (10%): SIPs will participate in coral gamete collection night dives, and settlement and propagation of resulting larvae. SIPs will contribute to coral husbandry tasks in temporary field aquaria, and may also assist conservation partners with husbandry in established in-site and ex-situ coral nurseries.
5. Restoration of coral reef habitat through the removal of submerged marine debris (10%): SIPs will improve reef health by systematically searching reef habitat and carefully extracting debris from the reef. Debris items will be counted, weighed, and processed prior to disposal.
6. Reduction of reef impacts through operation of a network of mooring and informational buoys (10%): SIPs will participate in installing, inspecting, and maintaining mooring and informational buoys protecting park reefs.
7. Monitoring reef health (10%): SIPs will participate in long-term monitoring of reef benthic and fish communities.
In addition to the aforementioned activities, SIPs will spend their remaining time on office-based projects and administrative tasks; helping colleagues with other projects such as sea turtle nest monitoring, lionfish management, fish and lobster creel surveys, maintaining reef water temperature loggers, and coastal forest restoration; and helping external partners with resource management service.
DELIVERABLES
The SIPs will be responsible for compiling, summarizing, and mapping their activities completed in the position focus areas. For example, the summaries shall address the quantities, species, and locations of outplanted nursery corals and COOs; quantities of corals treated for disease including species, locations, treatment methods, and treatment efficacy; results of our spawning and larval propagation activities; quantities, categories, and locations of marine debris retrieved from the reef; temporal trends in monitoring data; etc.
As an alternative, if an SIP participant has a school project to complete, they may discuss with the supervisors the opportunity to develop a project based on a park data set that the SIP is actively completing.
The SIPs shall disseminate the summary information compiled (or results of data analysis project) in two outlets. First, the SIPs will make an oral/PowerPoint presentation to park staff and interested partners at the end of the position. The presentation will be recorded for use in dissemination park information to park stakeholders and the general public. Second, the SIPs will collaborate with program staff to add the summary information to our ongoing restoration databases.
QUALIFICATIONS
- United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien.
- Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award
- Prior to starting the position, agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check for the employer of record, Conservation Legacy, and a separate government security background check for the host site.
- The applicant must be available to participate for the entire 52 Weeks in order to be considered and participate.
IMPORTANT: Applicants should ensure the following required and preferred qualifications are clearly called out in their resumes. Failure to do so will result in elimination from further consideration.
Applicants must have completed advanced coursework towards a bachelor’s degree in biology, ecology, marine science or a related field. Graduate students in the aforementioned disciplines are encouraged to apply.
Required:
- SCUBA certification
- Active scientific diver status through an AAUS organization
- A minimum of 25 scientific dives
- Experience with underwater data collection
- First Aid, CPR, O2 Administration, and Nitrox certification
- Knowledge of coral reef ecology
- Software proficiency: MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, ESRI ArcGIS
- Willingness to collaborate with and take direction from a variety of coworkers
- Willingness to withstand long field days year round with exposure to high and low temperatures, extended sun exposure, rough seas, chilling associated with long hours in the water, biting insects, and hazardous marine life
- Ability to conduct boating and diving based field operations with no adverse affects from motion sickness, either through low propensity for seasickness or through ability to successfully manage it
- Willingness to spend extended periods of time performing tedious office tasks (e.g. data entry and processing)
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Previous experience with small boat operations
- DOI Motorboat Operator Certification Course (MOCC)
- Coral restoration experience
- Experience with scientific data entry
- Experience with basic statistical analysis of scientific data
- Experience with collection, management, and use of geospatial data
ADDITIONAL POSITION AND COMMUNITY INFORMATION
POSITION SETTING
Biscayne National Park is one of the largest marine parks in the National Park System - 95 percent of its 173,000 acres is covered by water. The park is located in Homestead, FL in Miami-Dade County. The park is known for its coral reef and seagrass communities, exceedingly clear water, and keys with hardwood hammocks, mangrove forests, sandy beaches and rocky intertidal areas. The park preserves a unique, sensitive marine environment that is an important component of the south Florida ecosystem and economy. The Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay provide unique opportunities for great swimming, windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, boating, snorkeling and scuba diving on the coral reefs. The setting is subtropical. The park headquarters at Convoy Point is located nine miles east of Homestead, a small city with medical and dental facilities (including a hospital), banking, groceries, educational and other amenities. Neighboring Miami, thirty miles to the north, provides all of the educational, medical, sporting, and cultural features of a thriving multi-ethnic metropolitan area. The park headquarters is located approximately 35 miles from the Miami International Airport. Homestead, Miami, and other adjacent communities support variety of populations with Latin American and Caribbean heritage.
VEHICLE AND DRIVERS LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
- Applicant must have a valid driver's license to drive a government vehicle.
- A personal vehicle is REQUIRED for this position.
HOUSING
Park housing is NOT available. The selected candidate will be responsible for finding housing in the nearby area.
Park housing MAY be available. The park has one 4-person apartment available for interns and temporary staff. We will request housing for this position; housing will not be decided on until early 2026, as the resource is shared across all park divisions.
If housing is not available at the park, other options in the local community may be considered. Existing BISC or EVER staff may have a room available for rent. EVER may have park housing available. The park is adjacent to the cities of Homestead, Miami, and Key Largo with abundant and varied housing resources. The cost of local housing options varies depending on the situation, and may be in the range of $1,000-$2,000/month. Alternatively, a qualified applicant from the local community may be selected.
OUR COMMITMENT
Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions.
TIME REQUIREMENTS
- This position is expected to serve full time each week, but exact service schedules may vary based on project needs. Lunch breaks and days off will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service hours.
- Member may be required to participate in national, state, or local service projects or events as part of their service term.
ORIENTATION AND TRAINING
- Member will receive pertinent project and site training from host site throughout term
- Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
- Access to free professional development webinars led by Conservation Legacy staff
EVALUATION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
As an AmeriCorps member, performance will be evaluated on whether the member has completed the required number of minimum AmeriCorps hours, the member has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the member has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.
Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.
HOW TO APPLY
Apply online, all Scientists in Parks positions are listed at: https://conservation-legacy.breezy.hr/. Complete the application for this position, highlighting why you are interested in the position and how your background and experience will help you succeed in this position. Be prepared to upload your resume and unofficial transcript as part of completing the application questionnaire.
Once you begin applying for a position, the application must be completed in one sitting. You cannot save and return later to complete it. Applicants can apply for up to five Scientists in Parks positions per season. You need to complete a separate application for each position in order to be considered. You should receive a confirmation email after successfully submitting an application. Sometimes institutional email filters/settings can redirect, or block emails related to the application. We recommend watching spam, junk, and promotional email folders in case your service delivers messages there. Please visit How to Apply for additional resources and information about applying (i.e., learn what materials to have ready for applying, find a worksheet that previews application questions, etc.). Learn more about Scientists in Parks at: https://www.scientistsinparks.org/.
Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards), a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with AmeriCorps service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants serve with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits to provide institutional capacity, develop community relationships, and support ecosystem health. Stewards in partnership with the Scientists in Parks program will host the Ecology Assistant at Biscayne National Park.
Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to Scientists in Parks using the email address at the base of the home page, under “Questions? Contact Us!”
