Ecology Assistant AmeriCorps

Ecology Assistant (36 Weeks) - Ameri Corps 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

• 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.

• 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)

• 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.

• monitoring
• habitat restoration
• sagebrush
• whitebark pine
• native plants
• data visualization

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 us to pivot 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 a participant assigned specifically to monitoring will allow it to receive the attention it needs to optimize effective data collection, data analysis, and communication.

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 (e.g., site observation and photo points) to quantitative data collection (e.g., 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…