Fish Biologist

U.S.-Fish-; Warm Springs (GA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeks a Fish Biologist for the Warm Springs Fish Health Center in Georgia.

This is a GS-7 and GS-9 term appointment (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment expected to last at least 13 months and potentially extended up to four years based on regulatory changes and management discretion. Qualified applicants will meet basic educational requirements and specialized experience as outlined.

Qualifications

• Must meet basic educational requirement and specialized experience; transcripts required.
• Graduate education accepted in lieu of experience with proper transcripts.
• Hours per week must be stated to credit part-time or full-time work experience.
• Combination of education and experience may be required to meet 100 percent of qualifications.

Responsibilities

• Assist with daily hatchery operations including fish culture, disease control, broodstock care, egg incubation, feeding, cleaning, and tagging.
• Conduct visual and microscopic examinations of fish for diseases and parasites and implement disease control plans under supervision.
• Collect and help analyze water quality and biological data to support healthy fish production and apply corrective measures as directed.
• Maintain electronic records and generate reports on hatchery operations, including feeding, water quality, disease incidents, inventory, and production.
• Support technical and administrative tasks such as annual reporting, facility management, safety, training, budgeting, partnerships, outreach, and public relations.

Education

Biological science degree with aquatic and animal sciences coursework

Job description

You will serve as a Fish Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Warm Springs Fish Health Center in Georgia. These are GS-7 and GS-9 term positions (more than 1 year) with an initial appointment expecting to last at least 13 months but may be extended up to a total of four years, or more based on any changes to regulations governing the number of years term appointments may last, without further competition at management's discretion.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-08/31/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. To receive credit for experience, your resume MUST state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected. Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Basic Educational Requirement AND Specialized Experience and/or Education for the series to which you are applying. Basic Educational Requirements: In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

• A. Degree: major in biological science that included:
  • At least 6 semester hours in aquatic subjects such as limnology, ichthyology, fishery biology, aquatic botany, aquatic fauna, oceanography, fish culture, or related courses in the field of fishery biology; and
  • At least 12 semester hours in the animal sciences in such subjects as general zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, entomology, parasitology, ecology, cellular biology, genetics, or research in these fields. (Excess course work in aquatic subjects may be used to meet this requirement when appropriate.) You must submit transcripts.

-OR-

• B. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), of which a minimum of 6 semester hours were in aquatic subjects and 12 semester hours were in the animal sciences, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-7 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:
  • Assist with daily hatchery operations including fish culture, disease control, broodstock care, egg incubation, feeding, cleaning, and tagging programs.
  • Conduct visual and microscopic examinations of fish for diseases and parasites and implement disease control plans under supervision.
  • Collect and help analyze water quality and biological data to support healthy fish production and apply corrective measures as directed.
  • Maintain electronic records and generate reports on hatchery operations, including feeding, water quality, disease incidents, inventory, and production.
  • Support technical and administrative tasks such as annual reporting, facility management, safety, training, budgeting, partnerships, outreach, and public relations. You must include hours per week worked.

• Education: Successful completion of at least one year of graduate-level education in biological science or related field of study. You must include transcripts.

• Combination of education and experience: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience described above. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts

To qualify for this position at the GS-9 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-7 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:
  • Lead daily hatchery operations by managing fish culture activities, disease control, broodstock care, egg incubation, feeding, cleaning, and tagging programs.
  • Conduct visual and microscopic examinations of fish for diseases and parasites, recommend actions, and administer treatments as needed.
  • Collect, monitor, and analyze water quality and biological data to ensure healthy fish production and implement corrective measures.
  • Maintain electronic records and generate reports on hatchery operations, including feeding, water quality, disease incidents, inventory, and production.
  • Assist with technical and administrative tasks such as annual reporting, facility management, safety, training, budgeting, partnerships, outreach, and public relations.

• Education: Successful completion of at least two years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree in biological science or related field of study. You must include transcripts.

• Combination of education and experience: Successful completion of a combination of education and experience described above. The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include transcripts

Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.