Careers

Description:

The USGS and EPA Region 10 have a growing partnership to address a relatively recent amendment to the Clean Water Act, Amendment 123, with directs the US EPA to develop a geographically based program aimed at monitoring and reducing Toxics in the Columbia River Basin (https://www.epa.gov/columbiariver/epas-role-protecting-basin#crbrp).  This new program seeks to design and implement a long-term monitoring program across the Columbia River Basin, focused on Toxics in fish, sediment and water, that utilizes both historical data and current, on-the-ground activities by many member organizations.  The Draft Columbia River Basin Toxics Monitoring Strategy has 2-yr, 5-yr, and 20-yr goals, a high degree of local support, and several early activities identified that the USGS is leading implementation of.     

The primary activity for this initial, summertime, opportunity is to consolidate, review, summarize and begin analysis of the historical toxics monitoring data in fish, sediment and water of the Columbia River Basin.  Multiple Datasets currently exist that need review, consolidation, summary and early analysis of, under guidance with the Principal Investigators involved.  Additional learning opportunities may also include; collecting or processing samples for shipment to analytical laboratories, planning the collection and processing of fish and fish tissue samples for analysis at an analytical lab, and being a part of other projects in the Washington Water Science Center, such as the Stormwater Action Monitoring stream surveys, or the Upper Columbia River sand and slag movement study.

Learning Objectives: You will gain exposure and familiarity with freshwater toxics monitoring information, methods, approaches, regional staff and best management practices.  You will learn current approaches for managing pollution data and decision frameworks for how to prioritize chemical exposures and strategies on which stories to tell from the data and why.  You will also be exposed to a variety of field approaches, SOPs, and techniques related to monitored toxics in freshwater systems and stream and river ecology. 

Mentor: The mentor for this opportunity is Patrick Moran (pwmoran@usgs.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s). 

Skills/Eligibility:

The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the one of the relevant fields. Degree must have been received within the past four years, or anticipated to be received by 6/1/2029.

How to Apply:

A complete application consists of:

• An application
• Transcript(s) – For this opportunity, an unofficial transcript or copy of the student academic records printed by the applicant or by academic advisors from internal institution systems may be submitted. Click here for detailed information about acceptable transcripts.
• A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
• Two educational or professional recommendations.