Senior Fisheries Biologist

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Job description

Overview

RES is the nation's largest and most experienced provider of ecological restoration and water resource solutions. To date, we have restored over 328 stream miles, 58,024 wetland acres, and rehabilitated, preserved, and/or managed over 15,000 acres of special-status species habitats. RES operations include planting over 17,400,000 restorative trees and reducing over 267 tons of polluting nutrients. RES navigates and streamlines the environmental permitting process with solutions that balance economic development and ecological sustainability through the establishment of mitigation/conservation banks, permittee responsible turnkey mitigation, and corporate social responsibility projects.

RES has an immediate opening for a Fisheries Biologist to work collaboratively with a team of fisheries biologists, field ecologists, restoration designers, environmental land operators, and mitigation professionals in our Sacramento, CA office. This person will primarily work on the design, permitting/entitlement, implementation, and monitoring of several large-scale restoration and mitigation projects in the California Central Valley and Bay-Delta System. The fisheries biologist will support our Senior Fisheries Biologist in conducting native fish restoration planning, design, and implementation services involving the following species: Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Chinook salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and lamprey.

Responsibilities

* Collaborate with RES analysts and Senior Fisheries Biologist to identify highly suitable properties to recover listed species in priority locations of the California Central Valley and Bay-Delta System;
* Develop restoration and monitoring plans for listed fish species and aquatic habitats;
* Analyze and present aquatic resource data to RES management and interagency review teams;
* Participate in interdisciplinary teams to design and implement large-scale restoration and mitigation projects;
* Conduct fish surveys and inventories to document performance of restoration actions;
* Make habitat management recommendations based upon collected field data, public databases, and published literature;
* Coordinate with restoration implementation and maintenance crews to achieve performance standards and habitat restoration goals;
* Maintain a working understanding of current fisheries and aquatic science research, monitoring efforts, and research practitioners in Central Valley and Bay-Delta;
* Attend meetings with regulatory agencies, clients, and teaming partners. Engage with these audiences as a representative of RES; and
* Perform literature and database searches.

Qualifications

Minimum:

* Bachelor's degree in ecology, biology, limnology or other aquatic related discipline; advanced degree desired.
* Minimum work experience in mitigation, habitat restoration, fisheries, and/or environmental permitting of 8 years with a BS or 4 years with a MS or a PhD.
* Technical experience with a combination of the following: fish passage design, dam removal, fish stranding and rescue, fish translocation, barrier assessment, pit tagging, fish population sampling techniques, eDNA, hydrological measurements, stream channel assessment, instream flow studies, river restoration and enhancement, aquatic habitat assessment, feasibility study design, water quality monitoring.
* Excellent verbal and written communications.
* Effective problem solving ability, organized, and detail oriented.
* Experience with identifying anadromous and resident fishes and their habitats common to the California's Central Valley and Bay-Delta Watersheds.
* Permitting and regulatory compliance experience.
* Willingness to travel and work long hours in the field or office to meet project needs.
* Proven ability to work well with groups.
* Experience mentoring junior staff.
* Experience presenting at conferences, workshops, or symposiums.
* The ability to engage in self-directed learning.
* Comfortable working in physically challenging outdoor situations in all types of weather and traveling on a regular basis to project sites which may require overnight stays.
* Ability to lift up to 25 pounds.
* Must have a valid driver's license, Clean DMV record, and compliance with company safety policies are required.
* Experience with MS Office, Apple iPads, ARCGIS online, and GPS technology.

Desired Additional Qualifications:

* A long-term career vision that involves senior leadership in Northern California fisheries issues.
* Experience with CEQA/NEPA/ESA/FERC regulatory documents and their biological measures.
* Mitigation and conservation banking experience.
* Section 10(a)(1)(A) recovery permits and CDFW MOUs.
* Experience with floodplain, wetland, and tidal food web processes.

VEVRAA Federal Contractor

RES is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.