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Biological Science Laboratory Technician (Insect)
As a Biological Science Laboratory Technician, you provide practical technical support by performing work involving the production, research and operations of laboratory and field settings; and the rearing and maintenance of host colonies and parasitoid colonies. This includes working independently and in concert with other staff members to sustain an efficient and cohesive workforce, ensure collaboration and knowledge transfer involving the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) control program.
The duties may include, but are not limited to:
- Performs standardized, technical, field and laboratory duties that support long-and short-term projects of relevance to Plant Protection and Quarantine and its EAB biocontrol program.
- Develops, refines, verifies, justifies, organizes, evaluates and analyzes data pertaining to risk, diagnosis, mitigation, rearing, control, treatment and quarantine status.
- Prepares reports which summarize progress and results of projects.
- Develop, refine, apply, and utilize techniques involved in EAB physiology, habitat, response studies; and reproducing, collecting and caring for insect colonies and their biological control agents.
- Responsible for daily laboratory operational tasks.
Conditions of Employment
- You must be a US Citizen or US National
Qualifications
Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.
FOR THE GS-05 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-04 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates:
- Performing with minimal guidance most aspects of insect-rearing duties in a parasitic hymenopteran (wasps for biological control) mass-production setting.
- Performing with minimal guidance most of the care for greenhouse-grown plant material (ash trees), setting up and maintaining wood boring beetle (emerald ash borer) and parasitic hymenopteran (wasps for biological control) rearing enclosures.
- Maintaining a safe and sanitary laboratory environment, performing quality control on insect and plant material in the laboratory, etc.
OR
Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics.
Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for this grade level.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Applications will be evaluated in accordance with Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Delegated Examining Procedures and USDA policy using category rating. This means you will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses to the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position.
Applicants who meet basic minimum qualifications will be placed in one of three categories: Best Qualified, Well Qualified, or Qualified. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference will receive selection priority over non-veterans. Category placement will be determined based on applicants' quality of experience and the extent they possess the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and other characteristics):
- Attention to Detail
- Customer Service
- Entomology
- Flexibility
- Interpersonal Skills
- Laboratory Support
- Learning
- Mathematical Reasoning
- Self-Management
- Stress Tolerance
- Teamwork
Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.
Your application, including the online Assessment Questionnaire, will be reviewed to determine if you meet (a) minimum qualification requirements and (b) the resume supports the answers provided to the job-specific questions. Your resume must clearly support your responses to all the questions addressing experience and education relevant to this position. Those determined to be in the best qualified category will be referred to the selecting official for consideration.
NOTE: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.
To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments, and required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section.
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