Biology Assistant AmeriCorps

Overview

POSITION DETAILS
Position (s): 4362
Position Title: Biology Assistant - Ameri Corps
Conservation Legacy Program: Scientists in Parks, Stewards Individual Placements
Site

Location:

Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Maryland
Number of positions available: 1

TERMS OF SERVICE

Duration: 12 Weeks (not flexible)
Flexible

Start Date:

Yes
Start Date: 06/01/2026
End Date: 08/24/2026
Ameri Corps Slot Classification: 450 hours - this is the minimum number of hours the selected candidate must serve throughout the duration of their position.

BENEFITS

• Segal Ameri Corps Education Award
  : $1,956.35 upon successful completion of position
• Weekly Living Allowance: $600.00 per week, fixed rate
• Relocation Allowance: $450.00 (distributed as a one-time lump sum with first paycheck)
• Student Loan Forbearance if applicable (administered by My Ameri Corps , directly)
• Student Loan Interest Payments if applicable (administered through My Ameri Corps , directly)

APPLICATION TIMELINE

Preference given to applicants who submit applications before Sunday, February 15, 2026. Applications will be reviewed after the Final date to receive applications passes. Positions will close after receiving 60 complete applications
, or at 11:59 p.m. EST on February 15, 2026, whichever occurs first.

KEYWORDS: reforestation, understory, regeneration, forestry, plant surveys

This Biology Assistant is an Ameri Corps position. Producing woodlot management plans for the East, North, and West Woods is a priority stewardship activity identified in the 2023 ANTI Resource Stewardship Strategy (RSS). Woodlot management plans would provide the park with technical guidance on implementing woodlot management actions such as selective thinning, pruning, dead/diseased tree removal, and understory stocking. However, fine-scale forest inventory data is needed to produce woodlot management plans that are adaptive to changes in resource conditions and support strategic implementation of management actions.

The risks of implementing woodlot management actions without guidance from understory conditions are increasing invasive species prevalence, negatively affecting native species occurrences, and backsliding forest stand establishment in areas with low regeneration and low seedling recruitment. Also, adaptive management strategies require monitoring data. Methods from this project will provide the blueprint for continued monitoring within the woodlots and support the implementation of adaptive and strategic management.

The selected individual will collect baseline data needed to assess current conditions of the understory vegetation communities of three different-aged, reforested stands located at Antietam National Battlefield (ANTI). Established in 1890, ANTI was designated to preserve, protect, restore, and interpret the resources associated with the Battle of Antietam and its legacy. Critical natural features present at the time of the battle were three woodlots managed for timber: the East Woods, the North Woods, and the West Woods.

By the 1880s, portions of the East Woods and West Woods were converted into cropland, with remnants of the woodlots remaining but unmanaged, while the North Woods was entirely deforested and converted into agricultural land. Due to reforestation efforts spearheaded by the park beginning in the mid-1990s following the completion of the park’s 1992 General Management Plan, these woodlots have been restored to nearly the entirety of their footprints with remaining unrestored parcels not owned by NPS.

After 30 years, reestablishment of the historic woodlots is highlighted as a huge anecdotal success, but thorough assessment forest establishment of each stand is warranted as the park now considers actively managing its woodlots, which includes selective pruning and thinning of trees to establish an open, low density forest appearance reminiscent of conditions during the Battle of Antietam. Each woodlot is part of the NCRN Forest Vegetation Monitoring Program, however fine-scale data on understory characteristics are needed as the park pursues drafting woodlot management plans hyper-focused on each woodlot.

Throu…