GIS Fire and Fuels Steward – Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Overview

Description

Position Title: GIS Fire and Fuels Steward – Ameri Corps

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placements

Site

Location:

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271

Application Due: July 3, 2026 OR once 50 applications received

Terms of Service:

• Start Date:
  
  10/05/2026
• End Date: 03/19/2027
• Ameri Corps Slot Classification: 675-Hour Slot

Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards), a program of Conservation Legacy, provides Ameri Corps service and career internship opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve natural resources. Participants serve with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits to provide institutional capacity, develop community relationships, and support ecosystem health. Stewards in partnership with the NPS GIS office is hosting a cohort of GIS stewards.

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks contain iconic, rare, and vulnerable natural resources, including giant sequoias and wildlife of varying status. Understanding forest structure, fuel composition, and wildlife habitat is important for guiding how fire and natural resource managers implement prescribed fires and mechanical thinning treatments to protect sequoias and minimize risks to wildlife and habitat.

Current methods for quantifying forest structure rely on field crews and capture only a small area. Remote sensing methods, including the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and terrestrial LiDAR scanners (TLS), paired with on-the-ground validation, can provide landscape-level monitoring of forest structure.

The goals of the SEKI Fire & Fuels GIS Steward are:

• Generate workflows for data analysis of UAS-derived imagery and TLS data to quantify forest structure, including measurements of tree DBH, height, height to live crown, and surface fuels quantity.
• Validate UAS-derived forest measurements by comparing them to field data from the SEKI Fire Ecology program's long-term monitoring database.
• Conduct spatial analyses connecting burn severity and forest structure.

The GIS Steward will work closely with park GIS and USWFS fire ecology staff to support validation of UAS-derived forest measurements and analyses of forest structure.

Responsibilities include:

• Remote Sensing
• Download, organize, and manage high-resolution imagery and derived datasets.
• Process UAS-acquired imagery and TLS scans.
• Use field-collected data and remote sensing products to validate models.

• Data Management & Analysis
• Generate workflows for analysis of remote-sensed (UAS & TLS) data for forest metrics.
• Conduct spatial accuracy assessments using field-collected data and summarize remote-sensed model performance metrics.
• Conduct spatial analyses connecting burn severity, forest structure, and habitat for wildlife of management concern.
• Generate summary maps and spatial products to communicate findings to park leadership and partners.

• Documentation and Communication
• Develop metadata and documentation describing validation procedures.
• Create workflow documentation to ensure reproducibility and long-term implementation.
• Facilitate data sharing with project partners.
• Present interim findings to GIS, resource, and fire staff.
• Prepare a final written and mapped summary of methods and results.

• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident
• Participants must be between ages of 18-30 years old, or up to 35 for veteran, per the Public Land Corps Act of 1993 authorizing this Ameri Corps opportunity.
• Has a high school diploma or equivalency; or agrees to obtain one prior to using the education award
• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check

• Coursework in GIS, geography, environmental science, forestry, ecology, wildlife biology, computer science, or related field
• Experience with ArcGIS Pro and other ESRI products
• Understanding of vector and raster datasets, coordinate systems and spatial accuracy, basic spatial statistics
• Experience with remote sensing data (imagery interpretation, raster analysis, photogrammetry)
• Familiarity with UAS and field data collection tools (Field Maps, Survey
  123, GPS units)
• Basic Python, R, or other scripting experience
• Strong analytical thinking and attention to detail
• Ability to serve in a office setting

Applicants who have GIS degrees or experience are preferred. Prior to starting, a federal government security background clearance will be required.

Conservation Legacy is committed to equal opportunity and will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals. Physical requirements may include overnight travel and movement across varied terrain. If you need assistance due to a disability during application or recruiting, please request accommodation.

• Typically, 40 hours per week; exact schedules may vary. A half-hour lunch break is not counted toward Ameri Corps service.
• Participation in national, state, or…