Physical Scientist/Geologist

NOTE:  You must meet qualification requirements, including any requirements described in the Education section, by the closing date of this announcement.

NOTE: 1 year of full-time graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study; if that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours is considered an academic year of graduate study.

In addition to the basic entry education requirements, you must have specialized experience and/or directly related education as described below:

To qualify for the GS-09 level, you must have one of the following:

• 1 year of full-time* specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level defined as collecting laboratory and/or field samples; and preparing scientific reports;
• 2 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master’s degree; or master’s or equivalent graduate degree; the education must be directly related and provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position;
• equivalent combination of education and experience.

To qualify for the Research GS-11 level, you must have one of the following:

• 1 year of full-time* specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level defined as assisting laboratory research involving colorimetric, spectrophotometric, and conductivity analyses; analyzing experimental endpoints; and preparing scientific reports; 
• master’s or equivalent graduate degree; the education must be directly related and provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position;
• equivalent combination of education and experience.

To qualify for the Research GS-12 level, you must have one of the following:

• 1 year of full-time* specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-11 level defined as conducting laboratory research involving environmental and geological studies; analyzing research data; coordinating the operation of a research laboratory (i.e. responsibility for equipment, supplies, reagents, experimental samples, safety measures and quality assurance); and preparing scientific reports;
• Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; the education must be directly related and provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position;
• equivalent combination of education and experience.

Your answers to the online assessment will be used to evaluate your competencies in the following areas: 

• Knowledge of laboratory research principles, practices and procedures in methods used to conduct environmental and geological studies;
• Ability to independently perform recurring, routine or precedented experiments using standard methods and techniques;
• Ability to plan and implement research experiments;
• Knowledge of the latest developments in common groundwater contaminants and utilization of machine learning;
• Skill in written communication, sufficient to prepare routine reports and develop presentations;
• Ability to resolve conventional technical problems in designing and performing laboratory experiments;
• Skill in oral communication;
• Knowledge of quality assurance procedures sufficient to perform quality assurance checks and validate methods.

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.

*If you have part-time work experience, read this: EPA Announcement Policies and Procedures.