• Submit application and supporting documents by clicking on Apply Now button.
• For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

The EPA Environmental Research and Business Support Program has an immediate opening for a Sustainable and Healthy Communities Team Member with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA facility in Gulf Breeze, Florida.

The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.

The National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) is the Agency’s focal point for scientific research on the effects of contaminants and environmental stressors on human health and ecosystem integrity. Its research mission and goals help the Agency to identify and understand the processes that affect our health and environment, and helps the Agency to evaluate the risks that pollution poses to human and ecosystems.

The Gulf Ecology Division (GED) is one of four ecology divisions supporting the strategic research mission of NHEERL. GED engages in research to develop innovative solutions for complex challenges to address EPA’s most pressing needs in protecting human health and environment. GED conducts systems-based, effects research to advance the science toward achieving sustainable communities, health and well-being.

The Selected candidate shall provide support to a multidisciplinary team focused on innovative research that examines the influence of ecological, economic and social environments in terms of community sustainability, human health, well-being and resilience. Activities will include data curation and extraction, quality control, data analysis, application of data to solve spatial problems through use of geostatistics and modeling. Research topics will cover: characterizing community characteristics at multiple spatial scales; assessing ecosystem condition relevance in context of socio-ecological systems; investigating indicator development strategies; and creating approaches to quantify sustainability measures at multiple spatial scales. The selected candidate should expect to gain experience and knowledge in geospatial theory and practices, the development and design of models and frameworks for the assessment of community characteristics, statistical analyses; outreach and education; and scientific writing. It is anticipated that the selected candidate will contribute to research products and milestones to meet project objectives and provide services in support of research directed under the Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Team.

Responsibilities shall include, but are not limited to:

• Data entry, documentation, and analysis;
• Processing and refinement of spatial data using ArcGIS;
• Conducting quality control of collected secondary data;
• Conduct literature searches involving data needed for research products and models; and
• Compiling and summarizing analytical data and literature references.

Communications-related responsibilities will include:

• Participating as a member of a multi-disciplinary research team;
• Interacting with EPA scientists; and
• Reporting regularly via email to inform team members of progress.

Location: This job will be located at EPA’s facility in Gulf Breeze, Florida.

Salary: Selected applicants will become temporary employees of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $20.65 for hours worked.

Hours: Full-time.

Working Conditions: The selected candidate shall be supervised by a mentor who will provide day-to-day direction, as well as coach, advise and counsel the candidate, and review his/her work.  The mentor for this position will be a federal EPA employee. 

Travel: No overnight travel is anticipated.

Expected Start Date: The position is full time and expected to begin October/November 2018.  The selected applicant will be a temporary employee of ORAU working as a contractor to EPA. The initial contract period is through May 14, 2019, followed by one (1) additional 12 month option period.

For more information, contact EPAjobs@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

Eligible applicants must:

• Be at least 18 years of age and
• Have earned at least a Bachelor’s degree in biology, ecology, marine biology, zoology, chemistry, geography, geospatial sciences, or a related field of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months and
• Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.

EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

Successful candidate shall have:

• Experience working with spatial data and building maps in ArcGIS;
• Experience in formatting and normalizing data for use in a geospatial platform;
• Experience using Microsoft Excel for formatting, normalizing, and managing data for statistical modeling;
• Experience in finding, extracting and organizing data from secondary data sources (electronic media, published standards, and downloadable databases);
• Experience compiling, organizing, and summarizing literature references; and
• Experience developing graphics, tables and GIS products for scientific reports and manuscripts.

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, or Doctoral Degree received within the last 24 month(s).
• Discipline(s):
  • Chemistry and Materials Sciences (12 )
  • Earth and Geosciences (21 )
  • Environmental and Marine Sciences (14 )
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (45 )
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences (1 )

I certify that I am at least 18 years of age; a recent graduate with at least a Bachelor’s degree in biology, ecology, marine biology, zoology, chemistry, geography, geospatial sciences, or a related field of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months; a citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident of the United States of America; and not a current employee of EPA ORD or the spouse or child of an EPA ORD employee.