Description:
Dr. Jackie Grant is hiring up to four people to work on summer seed crews on the Colorado Plateau and Great Basin regions. Native plant assistants will work with faculty in the Department of Biology to plan wildflower scouting trips, genetic tissue sampling trips, and seed collection trips from April through October. Responsibilities include plant and wildflower identification, collection of herbarium voucher specimens, population size estimation, organizing field trips, preparing for safe field experiences, data management, learning how to manage spatial data, seed preparation for distribution to the national seed extractory, managing seed requests from external partners, and pest removal. The jobs will be part time during the semester and full time during the summer. Early season work involves compiling species lists, scouting for wildflowers, mapping collection locations, and estimating population sizes. Summer work is full time and revolves around field collections of seeds along with data management, seed preservation, and shipping to partners. Summer work weeks will often consist of four days of ten hours each with three days off. Late season part time work can extend into October. Some weekend work may be required. Internship credit is available to interested students.
Qualifications:
Qualified candidates will (1) have a genuine interest in plants and restoration, (2) be comfortable camping for up to three nights per week, sometimes in remote locations, (3) possess a valid driver’s license, (4) be organized and self-sufficient, and (5) be able to walk at least two miles. Enthusiastic applicants will be trained in plant identification and other necessary skills required by the Seeds of Success program to be successful.