Ecology Assistant AmeriCorps

Overview

POSITION DETAILS
Position (s): 4406
Position Title: Ecology Assistant - Ameri Corps
Conservation Legacy Program: Scientists in Parks, Stewards Individual Placements
Site

Location:

Grand Teton National Park, Moose, Wyoming
Number of positions available: 1

TERMS OF SERVICE
Duration: 36 Weeks (not flexible)
Flexible

Start Date:

Yes
Start Date: 5/4/2026
End Date: 1/11/2027
Ameri Corps Slot Classification: 1200 hours - this is the minimum number of hours the selected candidate must serve throughout the duration of their position.

BENEFITS

• Segal Ameri Corps Education Award: $5,176.50 upon successful completion of position
• Weekly Living Allowance: $600.00 per week, fixed rate
• Relocation Allowance: $450.00 (distributed as a one-time lump sum with first paycheck)
• Student Loan Forbearance if applicable (administered by My Ameri Corps , directly)
• Student Loan Interest Payments if applicable (administered through My Ameri Corps , directly)

APPLICATION TIMELINE
Preference given to applicants who submit applications before Sunday, February 15, 2026. Applications will be reviewed after the Final date to receive applications passes. Positions will close after receiving 60 complete applications, or at 11:59 p.m. EST on February 15, 2026, whichever occurs first.

KEYWORDS: monitoring, habitat restoration, sagebrush, whitebark pine, native plants, data visualization

PURPOSE
This Ecology Assistant is an Ameri Corps position. Grand Teton has a very active vegetation management program that encompasses sagebrush habitat restoration, invasive plant management, revegetation following construction, and whitebark pine conservation. Monitoring the effectiveness of these program areas is essential for adapting practices and actions to meet our natural resource goals. For example, we applied monitoring results to modify the seed mixes and soil preparation techniques used in sagebrush restorations to improve outcomes.

Additionally, over the last three years, we have started incorporating propagated plants into our restoration and revegetation sites; understanding survivorship will give us needed feedback on benefits and cost-effectiveness. Monitoring the direct seeding of whitebark pine seeds revealed unacceptably high levels of predation, leading to us pivoting to planting seedlings instead of seeds. Long-term monitoring allows managers to detect changes in ecosystems to prepare appropriate responses and communicate that to other scientists, managers, and the public.

Such data have been invaluable to our understanding of whitebark pine decline from blister rust and mountain pine beetle and allows for data-backed conservation planning. Despite the importance of monitoring, it is still a challenge to properly steward, analyze, and present field data. Working with an participant assigned specifically to monitoring will allow it to receive the attention it needs to optimize effective data collection, data analysis, and communication.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
This service opportunity provides an opportunity to engage in a breadth of survey, monitoring, and mapping techniques for a range of vegetation management needs across a variety of vegetation communities from sagebrush steppe to whitebark pine forest. The participant will perform ecological monitoring, surveying, and mapping for various programs and projects in the branch of Vegetation Ecology and Management at Grand Teton National Park.

Monitoring ranges from qualitative (site observation and photo points) to quantitative data collection (recording plant species abundance in plots) and long-term trend monitoring to short-term efficacy monitoring. Data collection will primarily be focused on vegetation, but there may be a chance to collect data on pollinators or birds. Examples include monitoring long-term sagebrush and high elevation plant communities; sagebrush restoration planting success;

grazing utilization; whitebark pine direct seeding germination and survivorship; revegetation success, invasive plant management outcomes, rare plant surveys, invasive plant surveys, and disturbance mapping. The duties will be a combination of data collection in the field and office-based field prep, data management, data summary, and analysis.

DELIVERABLES
The participant will be responsible for developing data products, analyses, summaries, and reports or presentations. We will work with the individual to tailor a specific plan scaled to their abilities, with the goal of developing new skills. An entry-level incumbent who needs more development may contribute to the following whereas a more advanced incumbent may lead product development. Additionally, the participant may focus on one or more monitoring efforts for more in-depth analysis, summary, and reporting.

Examples include:

• Collect 2026 field data sets for Inventory and Monitoring Program Sagebrush and Sagebrush Restoration Monitoring
• Perform site visit observations, collect photopoints, and create data summaries for revegetation projects including sections of…