Position Description and Application
As an advanced trainee, the employee will continue to receive training and will perform specific portions or minor phases of assignments in data management practices that support data management functions used to support operational inventory activities, data collection, compilation, storage, analysis, reporting, research projects, and field research personnel. Under the guidance of a higher graded specialist, participates in populating data dictionaries, data models, and metadata for research projects.
Receives training in more advanced skills, techniques, and procedures by performing a variety of productive activities involving FIA data management processes, protocols, and solutions.
The trainee will work between 25-33% of the year in field related work:
- As an advanced trainee, performs project planning activities including scheduling, organizing, and executing field data collection projects related to natural resource inventory.
- Receives formal and on the job training for planning the approach and collecting data needed to carry out complex studies or portions of larger biological science investigations. Follows work plans that include time and cost estimates, and the materials, supplies, and equipment to accomplish a study, which are established by assisting senior members of the staff with these tasks.
- Receives training to gain proficiency in FIA data management. Carries out support projects of limited scope; assembles and prepares material for field research work including selection of aerial photos, maps, and equipment.
- After receiving advanced training, conducts forest land inventories using standardized methods to determine such things as plot location accuracy and accessibility (locates remote field sites using aerial photographs, topographic maps, compass and GPS); species composition (count and measurement of the number, species, size, quality, cull and other characteristics of sample trees); the classified ownership, forest type, stand size, stocking, cover class, natural and anthropogenic treatments and disturbances; forest insects and disease; and other items as specified in the FIA national/regional field guide procedures. Makes technical interpretations of the FIA national/regional field guide procedures for application under unusual conditions and consultation with FIA field crew leader.
