Zoologist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Summary
The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo. The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a major bureau of the Smithsonian Institution that is responsible for the acquisition, curation, and preservation of collections of objects and specimens of natural history, which tells the history of the planet and a record of human interaction with the environment and one another.
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Duties
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The Research Zoologist will develop and expand an internationally recognized research program, making major contributions to the field of zoology through research, integrative scientific investigation, scholarly and public presentations, publications, and recognition within the scientific community.
In this position you will:

• Initiate, develop, and participate in integrative scientific research, fieldwork, and collection growth and maintenance on Recent vertebrates (herpetology, ichthyology, and/or ornithology).
• Develop and curate portions of the National Collections in their own specialty area. This includes assuring proper documentation, identification, authenticity, and physical well-being of the collection.
• Serve as a consultant and expert advisor on professional matters in their area of expertise to colleagues, governmental agencies, other governments, institutions, foundations, organizations, and the general public. Achieve outreach via public lectures or publications, web sites, exhibit development, etc.
• Independently seek non-departmental funding from sources within and beyond the Smithsonian.

Requirements
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Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.
• May be required to serve an 18-month
  probationary period for supervisors.

Conditions of Employment
Qualification requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement.
For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions on OPM website.
Qualifications
Basic Qualifications
Individual Occupational Requirements
1. Degree: zoology; or a related discipline or field of science that included at least 20 semester hours in zoology and related sciences.
or
2. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in zoology, or in a related discipline that included at least 20 semester hours in zoology, as shown in A 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.
In addition to the basic qualification requirement above:
Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as conducting natural history and scientific collections-based research in areas of systematic biology and Recent vertebrates (in the disciplines of herpetology, ichthyology, and/or ornithology), as evidenced by one or more peer-reviewed scientific publications in taxonomic specialization; and using collections for research or planning the maintenance of such collections.
Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages and should clearly demonstrate how your experience aligns with the responsibilities and specialized experience required for this position. Do not copy language directly from the vacancy announcement, as you will be deemed ineligible for consideration. Instead, provide detailed, descriptive information about your actual experience.
**To ensure that you receive proper consideration for this position, please upload the list of the Peer-Reviewed Publications required in the specialized experience statement under "Additional Documentation" within the Required Documents section of your application. Please secure your documentation before the closing date of this announcement.
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.
Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.
Or Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a related field.
Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards.
Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
Education
See "Qualifications."
Additional information
This position is not included in the bargaining unit.
Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position. However, approval for incentives is contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.
Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.
Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement.
Most museum work is performed in an office setting; and is generally sedentary with periods of standing, bending, lifting, and walking. Fieldwork and aspects of curation may require moderate to strenuous physical activities. Fieldwork frequently requires longer than eight-hour workdays and forty-hour workweeks.
Work is generally inside a typical research laboratory/office environment and requires the practice of standard health and safety procedures for such areas. Fieldwork imposes varying degrees of risk, depending on the nature of terrain, mode of transportation (whether on land or at sea), specific research activity, and quality of living conditions (e.g., climate and parasites).
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
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The Smithsonian offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes, in part, vacation and sick leave, holidays, health/life insurance, accident insurance, and excellent retirement program options.
Please see Benefits at https://www.si.edu/OHR/benefits for a complete description.
Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/
Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp
Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp
Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp
Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com
Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/