Wildlife Ecologist (San Joaquin Valley)

We’re looking for an experienced ecologist for a full-time position in our San Joaquin Valley office. The anticipated pay range for this position is $67,000―$90,000 annually plus an incentive bonus plan and a generous benefits package and participation in an annual incentive bonus program. Actual compensation will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.

What it’s like to work with us

H. T. Harvey & Associates has a reputation for deep scientific expertise and a high caliber of work in pursuit of our mission to create ecologically sound solutions to our clients’ complex natural resource challenges. As a new team member, you’ll become part of the 11-person Fresno office and report to an experienced senior ecologist and project manager. You’ll work collaboratively with other wildlife ecologists as well as experts in botany, land management, conservation planning, ecological restoration, and landscape architecture. Our projects are in the San Joaquin Valley as well as in the broader Central Coast and Sierra Nevada regions. The San Joaquin Valley office team has particular experience in projects pertaining to transportation (e.g., Caltrans and High Speed Rail); solar energy development; agricultural drainage issues; ESA and CESA permitting; endangered and threatened species surveys, assessments, and monitoring; and conservation land assessment, preservation, and management.

Our ecologists spend time both in the field and in the office. When in the field you might work on special-status population surveys and monitoring, impact analyses, or habitat assessments. When not doing field work, you’ll prepare permit applications, biological resource reports, and natural resource management plans.

What are some of the important types of projects and habitats we work on out of the San Joaquin Valley office?

• Providing long term monitoring and supporting stewardship programs of conservation lands
• Supporting the development of renewable energy, energy infrastructure, and transportation projects
• Working on water projects related to drain water, conveyance, and groundwater storage
• Assessing meadows and watersheds in the Sierra Nevada
• Developing and overseeing integrated invasive plant management programs
• Implementing the conservation programs of regional Habitat Conservation Plans and other large-scale habitat conservation programs
• Conducting survey, population monitoring, and permitting projects involving Swainson’s hawks, burrowing owls, San Joaquin kit fox, kangaroo rat species, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, San Joaquin antelope squirrel, giant garter snakes, western pond turtle, golden eagles, California tiger salamanders, and vernal pool branchiopods
• Working with large private landowners to develop mitigation and conservation banks

Competencies, skills, and experience

We assume those who want to join our company as an ecologist have a strong and relevant academic background as well as prior applicable experience. We aim to hire team members who strive for excellence in their everyday work and who are interested in continually improving their scientific knowledge and collaborating with experts in other fields. In addition to having strong ecological expertise, the ideal candidate should have a combination of some or all of the following:

• Specialization in at least one ecological domain (wildlife or plant ecology )
• Prior experience with federal and state biological permitting processes, ideally in California
• Prior experience assessing project impacts within regulatory frameworks (CEQA and NEPA)
• Exceptional and proven technical writing ability
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Desire to learn and apply new skills
• Willingness to travel and work in diverse environments

If you don’t have all the items above, but have a good portion of them, we still welcome you to submit your application so we can learn more about you!

A few other nitty gritty details

This position requires the future employee to:

• Follow best practices for field safety
• Hold a valid driver’s license with no major traffic violations or multiple minor violations
• Walk over varied terrain for surveys and work in inclement weather

How to apply

To start the application process, please submit your resume and a cover letter through our applicant portal. In your cover letter please:

• tell us about your strengths, including specialized area(s) of expertise
• what you hope to get from your next position
• whatever else you’d like to share that isn’t obvious from your resume

Ultimately, we’ll ask for references and a work sample and potentially academic transcripts, but if you don’t have them handy now, they can be submitted later.

Please combine your cover letter and resume into one file and apply here.