Physical Scientist (Seasonal)

US National Park Service; California; On-site; USD 52,000 - 76,000; Full time

Job summary

US National Park Service is seeking qualified applicants for a GS-07/09 level position involving field data collection for natural and cultural resources inventories, and assistance with data analysis and reporting. Applicants should provide clear evidence of hours worked and dates on their resume, with emphasis on related experience and education.

The role emphasizes the use of GIS, data plotting, and the ability to prepare graphs and data profiles.

Qualifications

• Basic Educational Requirements include 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus transcripts.
• Specialized experience for GS-07/09 includes field data collection, data analysis, and preparing reports; graduate education may substitute for experience.

Responsibilities

• Collect field data contributing to natural or cultural resources inventories or monitoring.
• Assist in drafting workplans and data collection protocols for field studies.
• Use GIS to analyze and document results and contribute to summary reports.

Skills

Field data collection

Data plotting

Preparing graphs and tables

Quality records

Education

24 semester hours in physical science/engineering

Graduate-level study (1 year) in related field

Tools

GIS

Job description

The typical defined season is not to exceed 6 months between March - November but can be variable during these months due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: April - May 2027. Open to the first 30 applicants or until 10/26/2026, whichever comes first. All applications submitted by 11:59 (EST) on the closing day will receive consideration.

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-10/26/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. To receive credit for experience, your 2 page resume MUST clearly indicate the nature of the duties and responsibilities for each position, starting and ending dates of employment (month/year), and the resume must reflect full and/or part-time or total number of hours worked (i.e., work 40+ hours a week, rather than indicating full-time). If part-time, the hours must be annotated to be able to pro-rate the amount of qualified specialized experience. Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. You may only submit one resume. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, you must meet both the Basic Educational Requirements and the Minimum Qualifications for the grade(s), you are applying for:

Basic Educational Requirements (GS-1301-07/09): In addition to the specialized experience requirements for this position, you must meet at least one of the following:

• A. Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. You must submit transcripts. -OR-
• B. Combination of education and experience: education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

-AND-

To qualify for this position at the GS-07 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position to be filled. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, the following: Collecting field data contributing to a basic natural or cultural resources and/or physical science inventory or monitoring program; assist in the preparation of grafts, charts, tables and reports; conducting routine calculating, plotting, and checking of numerical data; preparing graphs and data profiles; maintaining quality records to support the quality system and generating updates of these records; and assisting with routine analyses for quality assurance activities. You must provide hours per week worked and from/to (month/year) dates on your resume. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least one (1) year (18 semester hours) of graduate level education in a directly related field. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. NOTE: You must include a copy of your transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of directly related education and experience. For Example: I have six (6) months of specialized experience as described above (50% of experience), and at least one semester (9 semester hours) of college graduate study in a directly related field from an accredited institution (50% of education). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include a copy of your transcripts and hours per week worked and from/to (month/year) dates on your resume.

To qualify for this position at the GS-09 grade level:

• Specialized Experience Requirement: you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position to be filled. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include, but are not limited to, the following: Collects field data contributing to a basic natural or cultural resources and/or physical science inventory or monitoring programs; Performs a variety of technical tasks, such as selecting samples, interpolating missing data, uncovering clear discrepancies, solving minor problems and performing scientific analyses; Assisting with drafting workplans and implementation strategies; Assisting with designing and/or implementing data collection protocols in the field to monitor natural or cultural resources and/or physical sciences and maintaining monitoring equipment; contributing to summary reports that explain the results of natural resource monitoring projects; assisting with research through literature review, fieldwork, or onsite studies about natural resources of a park or habitat area; using spatial data in a geographic information system (GIS) to analyze and document results. You must provide hours per week worked and from/to (month/yr) dates on your resume. -OR-
• Education: Successful completion of at least two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree in a directly related field. The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. (Two years of graduate education is 36 semester hours.) NOTE: You must include a copy of your transcripts. -OR-
• Combination of directly related education and experience. Only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level. For example, I have six (6) months of the specialized experience (50% of experience), and 27 semester hours of directly-related graduate level college study in an accredited institution (50% of education). The total must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. You must include a copy of your transcripts and hours per week worked and from/to (month/year) dates on your resume.

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.