Agricultural Science Research Technician (Animal)

Summary

This position is in the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Field Organization, Pacific West Area, Range Sheep Production Efficiency Research located in Dubois, ID. In this position, you will support animal research by assisting with animal care, sample handling, data collection, and operation of research and farm equipment.

Responsibilities

Assists with daily animal husbandry tasks involving sheep, cattle, horses, and dogs, including mixing and delivering diets, monitoring health, and performing routine care in feedlot and rangeland environments.

Assists with pasture improvement projects and invasive weed control using general rangeland and herbicide-application equipment under established procedures.

Maintains inventory of animal feeds, supplements, seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, and related materials; assists with proper storage and disposal of chemical and biological waste.

Collects samples, records instrument readings, and takes measurements in laboratory, pasture, and feedlot environments following standardized procedures.

Prepares, organizes, and labels samples, ensuring documentation accuracy and compliance with established research protocols.

Keeps detailed records of experimental data related to animal feeding, health, performance, pasture utilization, and weed treatment; updates logs and ensures accuracy.

Recognizes minor variations in repeated routine observations or measurements and reports them to research staff.

Assists in operating and performing routine calibration of feed transport, processing, storage, delivery, pasture tillage, irrigation, and herbicide application equipment.

Maintains, calibrates, and modifies equipment and automated systems used for test and evaluation procedures.

Operates large machinery and equipment common to assigned work areas (feed mixers, tractors, loaders, applicators).

Independently recognizes abnormal or unexpected biological responses, measurement irregularities, or subtle variations in repeated experiments and reports findings to scientists.

Uses PC software for tabulation, statistical analysis, and summarization of scientific data.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. GS-05 Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-05 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-04 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience assisting in animal care and feeding; performing routine laboratory, pasture, and feedlot tasks; collecting and recording samples and measurements; keeping detailed experimental records; using routine farm/ag equipment; and/or assisting with pasture improvement and weed control. OR Education: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of courses such as biology, chemistry, statistics, entomology, animal husbandry, botany, physics, agriculture, or mathematics. Related degrees or courses may include: Animal Science, Ruminant Nutrition, Agronomy, Agricultural Science, Biology, Range Science. OR A combination of education and specialized experience as described above. GS-06 Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-06 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-05 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience performing animal husbandry and pasture/rangeland tasks; collecting and verifying samples; keeping detailed scientific records; operating and calibrating large machinery; modifying equipment; and identifying abnormal or unexpected biological results. OR Education: Successful completion of 1 full year of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's or equivalent graduate degree, if directly related. Related degrees may include: Related degrees may include: Animal Science, Ruminant Nutrition, Agronomy, Agricultural Science, Biology, Range Science. OR A combination of graduate level education and specialized experience as described above. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Requirements

You must be a US Citizen or US National. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt. Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check. Direct Deposit - Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution. Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year trial period. Motor Vehicle or Commercial Driver's License Required within 6 mo on hire. Pesticide Applicators License Required within 6 mo of hire. Ability to operate large equipment such as tractors and attachments, feed mixers and loaders.

Education

Please see above for education qualification requirement information.