Forestry Technician

GS-0460-09 Forester

USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station

Athens, GA

The Southern Research Station will soon be advertising a GS-0460-09 Forester position. The position is full-time, temporary (not to exceed 1,039 work hours) with the Center for Forest Disturbance Science Research Work Unit and located in Athens, GA.

ABOUT THE POSITION:This position will provide field (60%) and office (40%) support to scientists for research in multiple aspects of fire ecology. The work team is charged with conducting research in support of prescribed burning and fuel reduction in the southern Appalachian Mountains and southeastern Piedmont. The team conducts interdisciplinary studies on such varied topics as wildlife, soils, entomology, pathology, economics, vegetation, remote sensing, and fire behavior. The selected candidate will assist scientists, other professionals, and technicians to install study plots, implement treatments such as fire, and collect data. The position will require independent analysis of data and preparation of manuscripts for publication. The incumbent will be responsible for leading the team in the areas of plant taxonomy, GIS analyses, and data managment. Adequate knowledge, experience, and/or training in all three areas must be demonstrated. Demonstrated ability to publish scientific articles is desirable. Training and physical capability sufficient to maintain a firefighters red card at the moderate level is will be a requirement of the position but is not prerequisite. The position will require strenuous work in uncomfortable field environments. It will also require extensive travel throughout the Southeast. Relocation expenses are not available.

he Southeast. Relocation expenses are not available.

LOCATION: U.S. Forest Service Laboratory, University of Georgia Campus, Athens, GA.

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN RESEARCH STATION: The Southern Research Station is responsible for conducting research, development and application needed to create the science and technology to sustain and enhance southern forest ecosystems and the benefits they provide to the south and the nation. The Station employs about 550 people. About 20 Station employees are located at Clemson.


Athens, Georgia

City Population: 103,000

A regional center for music, fine arts, business, education, and health care.

Consistently rated as one of America’s best places to live.

A

thens is the home of the University of Georgia, the nation’s first state-chartered university (1785) . The unified government area of Athens-Clarke County, 61 miles from Atlanta, has a population of over 100,000. In Athens, 65% of the residents are white and 27% are black. Hispanics, who can be identified as either white or black in Census data, made up 6% of the county's population and the Hispanic community is growing. Athens is the core of a larger metropolitan area and is a regional center for cultural amenities, health care, banking, professional services, retail, and manufacturing. Athens is a vibrant city that defines sophisticated Southern culture. Just below the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this Classic City offers a unique blend of Southern heritage and contemporary entertainment. A wide range of award-winning restaurants offers distinctive dining. The past is preserved in the restored downtown and several historic districts , featuring antebellum, Victorian, and other period homes. Athens contains the state's official art collection, with traveling art exhibitions and many local galleries. Athens may be best known for its bustling nightlife and a world-renowned music scene.

The Athens Regional Airport serves the area with commuter service to Charlotte, NC. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, one of the busiest in the world, is 1.5 hours by automobile or van shuttle.

Economy

Athens and Clarke County’s economy is based primarily on education, retail services, tourism, health care, and manufacturing. Other major federal employers in the area include the Agricultural Research Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Defense. The top employers are the University of Georgia, Athens Regional Medical Center, Clarke County School District, Pilgrim's Pride, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, St. Mary's Hospital, Gold Kist, Inc., Merial Limited, Inc., Power Partners, E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Company, and Reliance Electric Co.

Housing in Athens-Clarke County and the surrounding Oconee and Oglethorpe Counties is readily available and comes in a variety of price ranges and styles. Sale prices range from the low $60,000´s and rising to more than $1 million dollars. Different architectural designs and floor plans are available, from single-family residential to condominiums, waterfront properties, elaborate estates and vintage homes. Rental houses and apartments are also available.


The area offers a good selection of shopping, serving as Northeast Georgia's cultural, shopping, medical, professional, and educational hub. Athens’s dining scene is especially rich due to the city’s status as a college town and event destination.

From the many theatrical performances, vivid lights cast upon Broadway shows, harmonies from the Athens symphony orchestra, Georgia’s Museum of Arts, the University of Georgia’s Performing Arts Center among many others, culture and art is nothing other than exceptional. For the outdoor enthusiasts, there is the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a 313 acre preserve set aside by the University of Georgia to foster appreciation, understanding, and stewardship of plants and nature. Other facilities include the natural habitat of over 129 species at the 80 acre Memorial Park and Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail. Other nearby parks includes Sandy Creek Park. The Sandy Creek Nature Center Oconee Forest Park is a 60 acre natural area on the UGA campus providing recreation, teaching, and research opportunities for the community while preserving its 100-year-old forest. features 225 acres of woodland, fields, and wetlands serve as a wildlife sanctuary and environmental education facility. The

The area features several challenging golf courses.

Education

The Clarke County School District is comprised of 13 elementary, 4 middle and 2 high schools including a performing learning center. Athens-Clarke County spent an average of $6,276 per student for public education each year between 1996 and 2000. This expenditure was greater than the state wide average of $5,285.

Higher education in Athens is dominated by the University of Georgia, with total enrollment of 33,660 students (25,002 undergraduates). The main campus in Athens features 380 buildings on 615 acres. The Forestry Sciences Laboratory, US Forest Service Southern Research Station is located on campus. UGA is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degrees. In addition a number of the individual university departments, degree programs, and service functions are accredited by appropriate professional organizations. UGA is comprised of the schools and colleges of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Environment and Design, Family and Consumer Sciences, Forest Resources, Graduate School, Journalism and Mass Communication, Law, Pharmacy, Public Health, Public and International Affairs, Social Work, Veterinary Medicine. UGA offers 19 Baccalaureate degrees in more than 150 fields, 30 Master’s degrees in 128 fields, 20 Educational Specialist degrees, 3 Doctoral degrees in 90 areas, Professional degrees in law, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and has 139 Study Abroad & exchange programs. And oh yes, sports: NCAA Division I, Southeastern Conference; 9 men’s varsity sports, 12 women’s varsity sports, 24 national championships, including 14 since 1999.

Other educational institutions include the Athens Technical College, with over 30 programs in business, health, technical, and manufacturing-related majors. Piedmont


College Athens Center is part of Piedmont College, an independent, church-related, liberal arts institution based in Demorest GA. The Athens Center is the college’s first satellite campus. The School of Nursing at Athens is a satellite campus of the Medical College of Georgia. A new medical school affiliated with the University of Georgia will open in 2010 on the grounds of the former Navy Supply School.

Health Care

Athens is a regional health care and medical center served by Athens Regional Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital. Residents of the area routinely travel to Athens for specialized health care. In 2000, the number of physicians in the county per 1,000 population was 2.9, compared with the state average of 1.9. Athens-Clarke County had 5.6 hospital beds per 1,000 population in 2000, which was greater than the statewide average of 3.1 beds per 1,000 population.

Cultural and Recreational Advantages

Athens features 14 neighborhoods and commercial districts on the National Register of Historic Places, including 3 house museums. Athens serves as Northeast Georgia's cultural, shopping, medical, professional, and educational hub. The Classic Center (http://www.classiccenter.com) in downtown Athens is a 70,000+ sq. ft. meeting/exhibit space and 2,000+ seat performing arts theatre. Athens is a musical Mecca that spawned R.E.M, the B-52s, Widespread Panic, and numerous other acclaimed acts. It houses the Southeast's largest and most concentrated collection of gardens and specialty nurseries. Other features are the only double-barreled cannon in the world, America's first garden club, and the original Constitution of the Confederate States of America. The Morton Theatre, an early vaudeville theatre built, owned, and operated by an African-American, has been restored and is used for community events.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: If you are interested or desire more information about this position, contact Dr. Tom Waldrop at twaldrop@fs.fed.us or (864) 656-5054. If you want to receive a copy of the vacancy announcement, please send the attached form to Dr. Tom Waldrop at the address indicated.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens

USDA is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer


Outreach Response Form

USDA Forest Service

Southern Research Station

Deadline: March 22, 2010

Position Title/Series/Grade: Forester, GS-0460-09

Location: Athens, GA

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name: ______________________________________Date: _____________________

Address: ____________________________________Phone: ____________________

E-Mail: ____________________

Current Federal Employee? Yes_____ No

Current title/series/grade/location: ___________________________________________

Type of appointment you are currently under ___________________________________

(e.g., Career, Career-Conditional, Excepted, Excepted VRA, etc)

To receive notification of the vacancy announcement, send this form to:

Dr. Tom Waldrop, Team Leader

US Forest Service

239 Lehotsky Hall

Clemson, SC 29634-0331

E-Mail: twaldrop@fs.fed.us

Phone: (864) 656-5054 Fax: (864) 656-1407

Deadline: March 22, 2010

Thank you for your interest in employment with the Southern Research Station.