Data Specialist (BLM, Idaho)

The Great Basin Institute (GBI) partners with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) throughout the western United States to implement vegetation monitoring programs such as the BLM’s Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) program. The AIM program is a BLM initiative to collect field data on rangeland indicators characterizing soil, vegetation, and hydrologic resources with an overarching goal to inform land management decisions and conservation actions.

The BLM's field offices in Idaho collect terrestrial AIM and related datasets on 12 million acres to document effectiveness of the decisions established in Recourse Management Plans, to determine treatment effectiveness, and for habitat evaluation and other purposes through the implementation of the AIM strategy. GBI seeks to fill a Data Management Specialist position for data management, processing and analysis in support of the AIM data collection and sage-grouse habitat assessment efforts in Idaho for six months following onboarding and a background check. This data specialist is required to have a thorough and comprehensive understanding of terrestrial AIM data collection and data management protocols to enable rigorous data review procedures. The Idaho Data Specialist will work at the BLM Idaho State Office or remotely to assist BLM staff with review and completion of QA/QC procedures for AIM datasets, provide technical support and training to the field in the use of Field Maps and/or Survey123, work with BLM staff on data management, and storage issues for AIM and related datasets, and complete analysis and reporting using AIM data as needed for completion of the BLM business. The data specialist will work directly with BLM staff on a daily basis, and will coordinate with the state AIM lead and monitoring coordinator for identification and completion of day-to-day tasks. 

This position is intended to be run at the BLM Idaho State Office, with the potential for occasional work-from-home options. A fully remote location with potential travel may be considered for the right applicant. Additional travel may be required to support field crews, and for workshops on incorporating AIM data into land health evaluations. Specific tasks may include the following: 

• Conduct analyses and generate reports that may include aggregation of data provided in two or more databases, summaries of indicators for a given project area, including calculation of confidence intervals, comparisons of indicator values by stratum, and production of basic maps using ArcMap (ESRI);
• Coordinate requests for analysis and reporting through the BLM Idaho Monitoring Coordinator and the GBI project manager or delegate as needed to manage the data specialist’s workload;
•  Assist terrestrial AIM field crews with mid-season data quality checks and provide further assistance with data quality control at other times as needed;
• Independently perform quality control checks on the data, organize it in a standardized way as coordinated with the BLM state office staff, and assist in submitting the data to BLM’s national operations center for uploading to TerrADat database; 
• Periodically retrieve data from TerrADat, Landscape Monitoring Framework (LMF) and/or DIMA databases, complete analysis tasks, and requested reports or summaries; 
• Maintain government-owned tablet computers for training purposes;
• During the field season, be available to provide technical support to BLM staff and/or other contractors regarding data entry and management, particularly with regards to TerrADat or other AIM Databases; and,
• The data specialist may be required to stay overnight at BLM District Offices for up to three (3) days and two (2) nights at each location to assist BLM staff in the office as needed. Additionally, the data specialist may be required to camp overnight with AIM field crews for up to three (3) days and two (2) nights to assist with data collection as needed;
• Assist BLM staff with analysis efforts related to sage-grouse habitat management and land use plan implementation, such as adaptive trigger casual factor analysis;
• Handle Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF) data (a targeted protocol geared to collect standardized habitat assessment data to inform land management and conservation efforts for sage-grouse habitat), utilizing existing tools and summary templates
• Create tools like the HAF tool in ArcGIS for data extraction, summary, and evaluation; and
• Complete legacy HAF database including a GIS spatial component.

The Data Specialist must be able to pass a federal background clearance and complete all required security training (FISSA) needed for federal building and computer network access.

Location: This position will be based at the Bureau of Land Management State Office located in Boise, Idaho or in a remote setting coordinating with the Idaho BLM office. 

Compensation & Benefits: 

• Pay Rate: $25.00 - $26.50/hr depending on experience.
• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance premiums paid 100% by GBI. Available on the first day of the month following the first day of employment. 
• Paid leave benefit: accrued at a rate of 0.05 hrs per hour worked (~4 hrs biweekly)
• Paid holidays
• $25,000 Basic Life & AD&D insurance at no cost;
   

Timeline:

• Seasonal six month long position, starting after onboarding and background check is completed

Education:
Bachelor’s degree in ecology, botany, data science, or related natural resources field. 

Experience:
Minimum 2 years specialized experience or related graduate work. Ability to work with multiple field and district office leads in complex work environments, interest and ability to learn and grow professional skills. Applicants must have a valid state-issued driver’s license.

Preferred:
Master’s degree, previous Terrestrial AIM monitoring experience, proficiency with ESRI products (e.g., ArcMap, web maps), and experience and/or training in using software (R, Python) to conduct basic statistical analyses, with the ability to clearly instruct others in technical material

NOTE:  This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employees may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the organization's ongoing needs.

Disclaimer: Although the organization has attempted to accurately and thoroughly describe this position, GBI reserves the right to change the same, including to change, add to or subtract from the duties outlined, within the sole discretion of the organization, at any time, with or without advance notice.