Zoologist (Malacologist)

As a Zoologist (Malacologist), you will serve as the highest-level technical authority in the field of Malacology for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Pest Exclusion and Import Programs (PEIP), National Identification Services (NIS), providing final identifications of gastropod mollusks: terrestrial snails and slugs and freshwater snails, providing diagnostic support, analyzing pest risk, making recommendations to management, and collaborating with scientists, worldwide.
 

The duties may include, but are not limited to:

• Provides authoritative, final taxonomic determinations of intercepted mollusks.
• Advises NIS on criteria for quarantine actions for perishable and other commodities held at ports of entry based on risk analysis of the identified pest.
• Develops guidelines for timely, consistent and accurate quarantine decisions based on evaluation of current and historical foreign and domestic scientific literature and collection records on mollusks.
• Evaluates the quarantine significance of exotic pests based on published data and unpublished information gained through networking with scientific colleagues, and expertise gained through experience.
• Serves as the technical authority in resolving scientific problems associated with quarantine of significant mollusks and makes recommendations regarding necessary procedural or policy changes.
• Provides advice on activities to improve pest identification services supporting passenger, conveyance, and cargo clearance; smuggling interdiction; transiting and preclearance; domestic pest survey.
• Identifies emerging scientific issues and modern technical capabilities to be applied to the diagnosis of plant pests.
• Develops and delivers courses in basic and advanced taxonomy and identification in the field of malacology, for field personnel.
• Curates the PPQ malacology collection to modern standards, ensuring both the proper care and maintenance of existing specimens and the growth of the collection.

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a US Citizen or US National
   

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.
BASIC REQUIREMENT:

Degree: Zoology; or a related discipline or field of science that included at least 20 semester hours in zoology and related animal sciences.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to a major in zoology, or in a related discipline that included course work as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Graduate Education: To be qualifying, graduate study must have been in one of the major fields of zoology, or have followed a curriculum or pattern of training that placed major emphasis on one of these disciplines or subject-matter fields, such as nematology or parasitology.

Graduate study in related fields of science such as microbiology, medicine, veterinary medicine, or plant pathology that involved cross-training in zoology or one of the fields of zoology may also be qualifying, provided there was a sufficient amount of emphasis on zoology.

FOR THE GS-12 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-11 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates:

• Experience identifying snail and slug specimens of global origin to genus or family based on external appearance.
• Experience dissecting snail and slug specimens to identify to species using the specimen's internal anatomy.
• Experience determining the plant pest status of snail and slugs using primary scientific literature.
• Experience curating snail and slug collections to ensure proper disposition, preservation, and accessibility of specimens.
• Experience publishing research results in peer-reviewed journals and making presentations at scientific or stakeholder meetings on the diagnosis, systematics, and taxonomy of snails and slugs.