Toxics Monitoring Technician – Scientific Technician

Title-Toxics Monitoring Technician
Classification-Scientific Technician 2 (ST2)
Job Status–Full-Time/Permanent
WDFW Program– Fish Program – Toxics Biological Observation System (TBiOS) section
Duty Station– Olympia, Washington – Thurston County
Hybrid/Telework– This position is currently required to work in person but may be approved to work remotely up to 20% of the time at a later date at the discretion ofthe supervisor.

This position is part of a team with two additional openings. If you’re interested in more than one role, please submit a separate application for each position. Applicants must meet the qualifications listed for each role to be considered.
Fish & Wildlife Biologist 1 – Job #
Fish & Wildlife Biologist 3 – Job #

Learn more about being a member of Team WDFW!

Under direct or close supervision of research scientists and biologists, this position supports the mission by executing field ecotoxicological studies and lab work to collect, organize and analyze data under WDFW’s Toxics Biological Observation System (TBiOS), a long-term program focused on measuring toxic contaminants and their harmful effects in Puget Sound’s aquatic life.

This position uses established TBiOS procedures to support research scientists and biologists to perform field surveys to collect specimens for toxicological monitoring studies, process samples in the laboratory using standard operating procedures, and process data for the TBiOS database. This position represents critical support for research projects designed to identify and measure toxic contaminants in the Puget Sound ecosystem, to evaluate the health of aquatic organisms and determine whether conditions are improving or worsening.

What to Expect-
Among the varied range of responsibilities held within this role, the Toxics Monitoring Technician will perform:

Laboratory work

• Using established protocols, processes field samples in the lab for biological metrics, analysis of toxic chemicals, evaluation of diseases, and other health-related endpoints. This involves resecting tissues and other body components from fishes and invertebrates using clean techniques defined in standard operating procedures.
• Creates composite samples of tissues.
• Helps to manage all lab-related activities including tracking and labeling tissue samples, transporting samples to and from labs, and maintaining appropriate lab conditions.

Field surveys

• Using established procedures, perform regular field surveys to collect fish and invertebrate samples for ongoing toxics monitoring.
  • This encompasses a wide range of sampling techniques including bottom trawling from a chartered fishing vessel, deploying/retrieving caged mussels in the intertidal zone, gill-netting for Pacific herring from small vessels, beach seining for juvenile salmonids, and purchasing adult salmon samples from tribal fisheries.
• Maintain supply inventories, prepare field sampling kits, and manage and track fish samples from the field to the lab.
• Collect field data using electronic devices/applications or written format.
• Assist with managing volunteers for mussel field activities.

Data and records management

• Process field data related to sampling effort and locations, tissue types collected, and lab data related to sample metrics
• Maintain paper and digital copies of all field and lab notebooks.

Working Conditions:

Work setting, including hazards:

• Field:
  The incumbent will assist with the collection of fish or invertebrates from boats and along the Puget Sound shoreline. This may include living on a boat for several days at a time. The incumbent will be subjected to inclement weather, including rough seas that may induce motion sickness. Shoreline sampling of mussels may occur along rocky and muddy shorelines at night in remote areas.
  
  The incumbent may lift heavy objects such as ice-filled coolers and baskets of fish on the deck of a moving boat. Fish handled by staff may possess sharp and venomous spines and may bite. The incumbent will assist with deploying and retrieving sampling nets from a boat or shore. This position may involve working in or near water, including tasks that require navigating, negotiating, and performing duties…