Work with Us

Backpacker hikes through green, wild-flower strewn landscape toward rugged mountains in distance.
High-elevation forest crew member hikes toward work sites, near Taboose Pass in Kings Canyon National Park.

Photo by: Alex Brown, Great Basin Institute

Applying for Seasonal Field Positions or Other Temporary Positions

How do you apply for field positions with us? The Sierra Nevada Network (SIEN) hires or works with partner organizations to hire seasonal staff to collect field data for our birds, high-elevation forests, lakes, and wetlands monitoring projects in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Yosemite National Park, and Devils Postpile National Monument. All of our field staff backpack to remote backcountry sites to collect monitoring data. To learn more about our program, visit our monitoring projects web page. Learn more about our field season opportunities through each of the organizations described below.

Summer 2024 Jobs

We are currently recruiting a Logistics Coordinator position in cooperation with The Great Basin Institute. This position supports the planning, logistics, operations, and data management for a variety of biological and natural resource monitoring projects. This position is a full-time, 8-month position that starts in late March and works through October and will be supervised by the network's program manager. The position is duty-stationed in Sequoia National Park, Three Rivers, California. For specific position requirements and to apply, please visit this link.

Project leads, monitoring protocols, and associated Standard Operating Procedures provide detailed guidance on many aspects of the work, but the position is frequently required to use independent judgment to help support project goals and needs to possess solid understanding of field operations in large wilderness or backcountry settings. The majority of work will take place in an office setting, though there will be opportunities to join field staff working in remote, backcountry locations in Sequoia & Kings Canyon and Yosemite national parks, with overnight camping and travel required.

Scientist holds a diameter measuring tape in one hand and is stretching it around the trunk of a large pine to measure its diameter.
Biological Science Technician wraps a measuring tape around a large foxtail pine to measure its diameter, Sequoia National Park.

Photo by Zoe Klein, Great Basin Institute

National Park Service

Each season we hire some of our field positions through the National Park Service. Applicants can find position announcements and apply for jobs through the USAJobs website. Announcements for 2024 seasonal forest monitoring, lake monitoring, and field logistics coordination positions have closed. To apply for National Park Service positions, you must create a USAJobs profile. Be sure to provide enough detail in your resume to fully document the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities ratings that you give yourself. For tips on creating a federal resume, watch this 5-minute video, or check out these tips.

Four people looking toward camera and upward toward the sky with binoculars. Blooming yucca, foothill shrublands, and rugged peak in background.
Four bird monitoring field technicians with The Institute for Bird Populations on a training day in Sequoia National Park.

Photo courtesy of Bob Wilkerson, The Institute for Bird Populations

The Institute for Bird Populations

The Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) partners with government agencies, universities, and non-government organizations to support science-based conservation of species by studying the abundance, demography, and ecology of birds and other wildlife. IBP works closely with our network to monitor birds. They recruit, hire, and supervise field crew members and help with field season planning. Local NPS staff partner with IBP in project training, oversight, and field season logistics. Our bird crews work in two crews of two people each, and these crews hike into the backcountry for up to seven days at a time to conduct bird point counts. The season begins with an intensive three-week training session in visual and acoustic bird identification, point count techniques, orienteering and safety, and wilderness camping skills. Crew members acquire substantial expertise in western bird identification, general natural history, and backcountry living.

Field scientist with muddy hands, lower pants, and boots as he uses a long-handled dowsing tool to locate and remove a wetlands well.
Great Basin Institute Water Monitoring Lead locates and retrieves a groundwater monitoring well from a pilot wetlands site in Yosemite National Park.

Photo by Kelly Bessem, Lake Monitoring Crew Lead, Great Basin Institute

Great Basin Institute

We are currently recruiting a Logistics Coordinator position in cooperation with
The Great Basin Institute (GBI). This position supports the planning, logistics, operations, and data management for a variety of biological and natural resource monitoring projects. This position is a full-time, 8-month position that starts in late March and works through October and will be supervised by the network's program manager. For specific position requirements and to apply visit this link.

The position is duty-stationed in Sequoia National Park, Three Rivers, California. Project leads, monitoring protocols, and associated Standard Operating Procedures provide detailed guidance on many aspects of the work, but the position is frequently required to use independent judgment to help support project goals and needs to possess solid understanding of field operations in large wilderness or backcountry settings. The majority of work will take place in an office setting, though there will be opportunities to join field staff working in remote, backcountry locations with overnight camping and travel required.

The Great Basin Institute (GBI) promotes environmental research, education and service through agency partnerships, such as those with the National Park Service and other federal agencies. When hired for a position through the Great Basin Institute, the field staff member is formally supervised and paid through GBI, but local staff also provide training and guidance.

Woman sits in raft with monitoring equipment, preparing to paddle out to middle of lake where she will collect water samples.
Geoscientist-in-Parks (now the Scientist-in-Parks Program) intern ready to paddle out to middle of a lake where they will collect water samples.

NPS Photo by Glauco Puig-Santana

Scientists in Parks Internships

The Scientists in Parks (SIP) program offers internships to work on a variety of natural resource projects in national parks. Learn more about the benefits and eligibility requirements of the SIP program. It is also important to carefully read all eligibility requirements as stated in the individual position announcements.

Five smiling field scientists take a selfie near a lake.
Lake monitoring field staff take a selfie near Emerald Lake, Sequoia National Park.

Photo by Marisa Monroe, Geoscientist-in-Parks intern, 2018.

What is it like to work on our field crews?

Visit the following web pages and watch the videos to learn more about our lakes and forest monitoring projects from field crew members, our project leads, and park managers:

Click on the names below to hear from three field staff who went on to graduate school. These short articles highlight what they enjoyed about their work here and how it inspired them to pursue their own research projects as graduate students.

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    Last updated: February 26, 2024