Work with conservation partners and private landowners to improve aquatic organism passage at road crossings using Stream Smart principles. Restore stream function and improve habitat for fish, macro invertebrates, and other species through large wood additions.

Responsible for providing leadership and technical assistance to area and field staff and private landowners on issues related to wetland and aquatic ecology and biology to ensure quality planning and practice implementation. Provide technical training to NRCS employees and conservation partners in a variety of ecological and biological sciences including restoration ecology, wetlands restoration and management, plant identification, Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP2), and wildlife management. Technical lead for NEPA policy related to wetland conservation, wetland and/or aquatic-dependent threatened and endangered species, migratory birds, riparian areas and wild and scenic rivers. Provide ecosystem-based technical expertise on all aspects of wetland restoration including vegetation, hydrologic and edaphic components to ensure all critical wetland functions are restored to the extent practicable. Technical lead for wetland conservation provisions of the National Food Security Act, which includes wetland determinations/delineations and the review and approval of wetland mitigation plans. Develop and update wetland and aquatic biology-related conservation practice standards for Oregon. Instructor (Vegetation Specialist) on National Employee Development Center (NEDC) Cadre for Wetland Restoration and Enhancement.

Responsible for providing leadership and technical assistance to area and field staff and private landowners on issues related to ecology and biology to ensure quality planning and practice implementation. Provide technical training to NRCS employees and conservation partners in a variety of ecological and biological sciences including restoration ecology, wetlands restoration and management, plant identification, and wildlife management. Technical lead for NEPA policy related to wetland conservation, threatened and endangered species, migratory birds, riparian areas and wild and scenic rivers. Provide ecosystem-based technical expertise on all aspects of wetland restoration including vegetation, hydrologic and edaphic components to ensure all critical wetland functions are restored to the extent practicable. Developed site specific restoration plans for complex wetland projects involving several Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) wetland types totaling over 2,000 acres. Technical lead for wetland conservation provisions of the National Food Security Act, which includes wetland determinations/delineations and the review and approval of wetland mitigation plans. Served as agency representative/witness at National Appeals Division (NAD) Hearings related to wetland conservation. Develop and update biology-related conservation practice standards for Michigan. Served as the Northcentral and Northeast NRCS representative to the regional plant panel, an interagency group tasked with updating the National List of Plants that Occur in Wetlands. Instructor (Vegetation Specialist) on National Employee Development Center (NEDC) Cadre for Wetland Restoration and Enhancement. Instructor for US Army Corps of Engineers' Reg-IV wetland delineation course.

Primarily responsible for providing technical assistance to internal and external customers on issues relating to wildlife habitat and wetlands in five counties in North-Central New York State. Conducted site evaluations, developed restoration/habitat development plans and implemented conservation practices under various USDA conservation programs including the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and the Debt for Nature Program (DFN). Developed wetland restoration plans for over 6,100 acres of former agricultural land enrolled in WRP. Created wildlife habitat development plans for 24 private landowners and/or organizations totaling over 1,165 acres of land under WHIP. Founding member of and NRCS representative to the St. Lawrence-Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (SLELO PRISM), a group of non-governmental and government agencies concerned with the problem of invasive species in North-Central New York State. Active member of the Conservation Practice Guidelines Committee.

Responsible for Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) ranking, planning, implementation and administration for 22 counties in northeast Indiana. Developed complex wildlife habitat plans under the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Conducted non-agricultural wetland determinations using the US Army Corps of Engineers' Wetland Delineation Manual (1987 COE Manual). Developed mitigation plans for converted wetlands to ensure compliance with the National Food Security Act Manual (NFSAM). Developed wetland restoration plans for over 25 landowners totaling more than 2,500 acres. Planning coordinator for a 1,147 acre WRP project.

Responsible for Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) planning of complex restoration projects. Conducted both agricultural and non-agricultural wetland determinations and developed several wetland mitigation plans. Served on state wetland conservation policy committee, which was responsible for providing guidance to wetland conservationists on wetland conservation issues involving the National Food Security Act Manual (NFSAM) and 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual. Provided plant identification training to Wetland Conservationists and other personnel. Assisted heavy workload counties in the development of wildlife habitat plans under the CRP. Developed preliminary wetland restoration plan for 1,123 acre Beehunter Marsh in Greene County, IN. Developed WRP monitoring criteria for the state of Indiana. Participated in the National Employee Development Center (NEDC) Graduate Studies Program and obtained Masters Degree from Ball State University. Revised and developed CRP conservation plans for over 50 landowners in Madison County, IN to ensure compliance with CRP-2 Manual. Helped revise plant community, wildlife and wetland related practice standards and technical notes for Indiana NRCS.

Responsible for working in cooperation with federal, state and local conservation partnership agencies to provide technical assistance on conservation matters to producers and private landowners. Worked with producers to determine conservation needs and develop Resource Management System (RMS) conservation plans for their properties. Surveyed, designed and installed engineering practices to meet Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) specifications. Completed several Highly Erodible Land (HEL) determinations and developed HEL plans to minimize soil loss. Assisted with the development of over 100 conservation plans in the 15th, 16th and 18th CRP signup, which resulted in over 500 acres of upland and wetland wildlife habitat.

Responsible for many of the same duties listed in the above job description; however, they were initially conducted under additional supervision. Studied the Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG), Engineering Field Handbook (EFH), and NFSAM. Eventually responsible for completing all wetland determination requests for LaPorte County, IN. Received WRP training and assisted USFWS Biologist with WRP ranking and implementation. Responsible for ranking the majority of CRP applications in the 15th signup. Surveyed and designed several waterways with limited assistance. Helped to identify local concerns and assisted with the development of an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) proposal.

Responsible for identifying ecosystem characteristics linked to the soils and collecting ecological site data using established sampling techniques. This included an inventory of the plant communities present and the collection of site index data including percent cover, basal area, tree height, tree core samples and general site characteristics. Assisted the soil scientist with the collection of basic soils information. Collected, identified and added 60 new plant species to the field office herbarium.

Responsible for inserting coded wire tags into pink salmon fry and cleaning and maintaining rearing baskets, raceways and the coded wire tagging machine.

Responsible for setting and checking trap nets for fish catch. Length and weight measurements were taken and recorded for four species of fish. Scale samples were taken and fins clipped for each of the four species. Seines were used to capture juveniles and measurements were taken. Constructed vegetation maps, which included emergent and submergent plant species. Carried out an experiment designed to determine the consumption rates of the fry of three species of fish.

Responsible for setting blocking seines and using eloctroshocking equipment to capture all fish in a 100-meter section of stream. Scale samples and length and weight measurements were taken for salmonid species. Additional fish species were identified and tallied.