POSITION DETAILS
Position ID(s): 4552
Position Title: Ecology Assistant - AmeriCorps
Conservation Legacy Program: Scientists in Parks, Stewards Individual Placements
Site Location: North Cascades National Park, North Coast and Cascades Network, Olympic National Park, Port Angeles, Washington
Number of positions available: 1
TERMS OF SERVICE
Duration: 52 Weeks (not flexible)
Flexible Start Date: Yes
Start Date: 01/25/2027
End Date: 01/24/2028
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 (pre-tax)
- Weekly Living Allowance: $ 775.00 per week, fixed rate (pre-tax)
- Relocation Allowance: $ 450.00 (distributed as a one-time lump sum with first paycheck) (pre-tax)
- 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, June 14, 2026. Applications will be reviewed after the application deadline passes. Positions will close after receiving 60 complete applications, or at 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 14, 2026, whichever occurs first.
KEYWORDS: data science, long-term monitoring, subalpine vegetation, trend analysis, modeling
PURPOSE
This Ecology Assistant is an AmeriCorps position. The national parks of the Pacific Northwest together host over a million visitors each year, and many of these visits include stops in the iconic and picturesque subalpine ecosystems of the parks. Subalpine communities provide an array of important ecological functions in the Pacific Northwest, including being the primary habitat for a large proportion of the region’s plant and insect species variety and offering summertime forage for bears, elk, and other wildlife. Subalpine features are also important for the region's recreation, with wildflower displays and wildlife viewing opportunities playing a large role in visitor use patterns in natural areas such as national parks and national forests.
The environment of the alpine and subalpine zone is defined by a short growing season characterized by extreme and highly variable environmental conditions that constrain plant growth - such as scant summertime precipitation, intense solar radiation, wide diurnal temperature fluctuations, and periodically delayed or protracted snow melt. Predicted weather scenarios for the Pacific Northwest region include altered temperature and precipitation regimes and snowpack declines, with a net effect of increased seasonal climatic water deficit. These factors, along with elevated levels of atmospheric nutrient deposition, are significant threats to these systems likely to bring major shifts in species composition and abundance in the coming decades.
Outcomes of this SIP position include useful, high-quality analysis products and visuals to improve informed meadow management by park staff and partners; to improve subalpine monitoring efficiency and effectiveness; and to build educational materials for informing the public.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
Olympic, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks are home to vast montane meadows that support abundant ecological variety and serve as high elevation refuges for many species. These subalpine ecosystems are affected by changes in visitation and use, snow melt timing, changes in fire regimes, and tree encroachment. Long-term monitoring of these communities by the North Coast and Cascades Inventory & Monitoring Network (NCCN) is critical to supporting conservation in the parks with data-driven actions.
The SIP participant will collaborate closely with NPS staff and partners to support and advance monitoring of critical subalpine ecosystems. A primary objective of the position is to explore and analyze 15 years of monitoring data by developing visual and quantitative summaries of meadow vegetation community composition, and to evaluate for change or stability in these communities over time. An additional analytical objective will be to characterize subalpine phenological patterns using remote sensing and modeling. Lastly, the SIP participant will participate in field monitoring with skilled NPS staff in the field, and will evaluate potential adjustments to monitoring protocols, including changes to sampling methods and data structures.
The SIP will be an integrated position that will draw from long-term datasets to inform restoration and management of high elevation meadows in three parks. The SIP will have an opportunity to collaborate with network ecologists and park resource managers to develop basic science products and applied analyses. The position will involve a combination of data science and data management, data analysis, and some field activities. The SIP participant will: 1) clean, explore, and summarize vegetation community data using R; 2) analyze trends in subalpine vegetation communities; 3) characterize seasonal phenological patterns in subalpine ecosystems using remote sensing and modeling using Google Earth Engine and various weather and imagery data; 4) participate in field monitoring of subalpine plots; 5) write up results and associated documentation in a technical report; and 6) pilot modifications to monitoring methods in different national parks.
DELIVERABLES
At the completion of the period of service, project deliverables will include: 1) a report and summary presentation describing outcomes of the position; 2) a draft technical report coauthored with NPS partners, including baseline summaries and trend results from the analysis; 3) a cleaned subalpine monitoring data set from monitoring activities completed to date; 4) final R code base and associated documentation for reproducible analysis; 5) a document containing standard operating procedures and scripts for tracking vegetation phenology or snow extent/quantity in Google Earth Engine; 6) updated standard operating procedure documents and a summary of any additional recommended modifications to monitoring protocol design; and 7) additional integrated datasets, data summaries, and code sets as determined during the course of the position.
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.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Well-qualified candidates should have a bachelor’s degree, or equivalent work experience, in a field related to ecology, natural resource management, geography, physical sciences, or biological sciences. Ideal candidates will have strong communication and organizational skills; a track record of conducting projects independently to carry out scientific analysis and automated data processing; knowledge and experience in coding and analysis in R (or similar scripting programming language), using database systems, and ideally experience in ArcGIS or Google Earth Engine (or similar GIS and remote sensing applications),; and upper level undergraduate or graduate-level coursework involving processing and analysis of biological data. Field data collection experience, backcountry experience, and the ability to serve in varied terrain at higher elevations, with an interest in and the ability to recognize and identify key Pacific Northwest plant species preferred.
ADDITIONAL POSITION AND COMMUNITY INFORMATION
POSITION SETTING
This position will entail close collaboration with a small team of NPS specialists and will involve a combination of independent research, field activities, and routine meetings. Tasks will be performed primarily indoors in front of a computer, in a park office building in a shared space. Position activities will vary seasonally: spring, fall and winter data will primarily be in an office; summer will include field activities in front and backcountry settings. The office will be shared with other resource staff. Outdoor field activities will be conducted in small teams and will involve overnights away from home, camping in remote areas of the parks, off-trail travel across rugged terrain, and hiking at elevations greater than 5000 feet. Field activities will be conducted during summer months, which are normally sunny and pleasant with daytime temperatures ranging from the mid-60’s to the low 80’s and low humidity. However, field conditions may vary, with occasional cold, wind, precipitation, or other extreme conditions.
North Cascades National Park headquarters is in the Skagit Valley in Sedro Woolley, WA and near the communities of Bellingham, WA (Western Washington University) and Mount Vernon, WA. Olympic National Park offices are in the city of Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. All of these areas offer opportunities to pursue many services and many recreational opportunities.
HOUSING
Park housing is NOT available. The participant will be responsible for finding housing in the nearby area.
Park housing is very likely NOT available for the full duration of the position (though housing may be available for a portion of the position duration). The selectee will be responsible for finding housing in the nearby area.
The position location will be either Port Angeles, WA at Olympic National Park or Sedro-Woolley, WA at North Cascades National Park. Shared park housing may be available for portions of the year at both Olympic NP (various sites within 20 minutes of Port Angeles, WA) and North Cascades NP (in Marblemount, WA). Private housing is available in and around many communities at both sites.
VEHICLE AND DRIVERS LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
- Applicant must have a valid driver's license to drive a government vehicle.
- A personal vehicle is recommended for this position.
OUR COMMITMENT
Stewards Individual Placements and Conservation Legacy are committed to the full consideration of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential job functions. Physical requirements may include periodic overnight travel, non-traditional work 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. The ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation 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!”
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 the host site throughout the 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, monthly accomplishment tracking, a mid-term report, and a final report.
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 (5) 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 North Cascades National Park, North Coast and Cascades Network, Olympic 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!”
