Vegetation Monitoring Botany Assistant

• Job Category Individual Placement, Ameri Corps
• Employee Type Ameri Corps

Contact information

Position Title: Vegetation Monitoring Botany Assistant - Ameri Corps

Site

Location:

Sonoran Desert Network, Inventory and Monitoring Program, 12661

E. Broadway Blvd., Tucson, AZ, 85748

Application Timeline: Preference given to applicants who submit applications by 07/20/2026. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and position closes on 7/27/2026

Terms of Service:

End Date:
August 27 th , 2027 (contingent upon final start date)

Ameri Corps Slot Classification: 1700 Hour, 52 weeks

Purpose:

Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards), a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with Ameri Corps service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our 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 Sonoran Desert Network will host a vegetation monitoring botany assistant.

The Vegetation Monitoring Botany Assistant is an Ameri Corps position that will collaborate with an NPS team of biological science technicians to revisit permanent upland and riparian vegetation monitoring plots and conduct invasive plant surveys across about six National Park Units in southern Arizona. This project is part of the core long-term ecological monitoring program of the NPS and collects rigorous data crucial for park managers to assess, plan, and develop natural resource protection activities, informing decisions and actions to conserve park resources.

Our goal is to revisit 50+ sites on a 5-year schedule and collect detailed vegetation species occurrence and abundance data. The program aims to establish natural resource inventory and monitoring as a standard practice to help conserve park ecosystems.

The Vegetation Monitoring Botany Assistant will contribute by assisting with vegetation and soils data collection, including identifying plants to species. They will be responsible for participating with a team to revisit plots and collect data, then enter and quality assure the data, helping the Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) program fulfill its mission.

Description of Duties:

• As part of crew, navigate to remote vegetation monitoring sites across the back country of NPS units, carrying monitoring gear and field safety gear.
• Use botanical knowledge to identify native and non-native plants at each site recording them to the species level using Latin binomials. Collect and document unknown plants.
• Collect detailed data on plant abundance and diversity using established protocols and entering data into protocol databases. Maintain records of sites visited and tasks completed.
• Collect data on soil stability and biological soil crust presence using established protocols.
• Collect landscape characteristics and erosion feature information for each site. Complete site diagram. Perform repeat photography at the four corners of each site.
• Collect fuels data on litter and downed woody material.
• During riparian surveys – collect tree diameter and height data, perform greenline surveys for obligate riparian species, conduct shrub and sapling counts.
• Either in pairs or solo, navigate along linear vectors such as roads, trails and washes to survey and document the presence of non-native plants.
• Use botanical knowledge to identify non-native plants at each site recording them to the species level using Latin binomials.
• Using a GPS-enabled tablet and specialized data collection form, map all observations of non-native plants including data on phenology and abundance.
• Conducting projects alone under guidance of the crew lead, enter data into databases or spreadsheets following established practices.
• Conduct standardized verification and validation checks on entered data, making corrections as needed.
• File or scan datasheets, rename photographs, and process other data types as needed.
• Using dichotomous keys, floras or other plant guides, dissecting kits and microscopes, identifying any unknown plants collected during field work and update records accordingly. Press specimens for herbarium use.
• Under guidance of NPS staff, participate in other network monitoring protocols as needed.
• Protocol tasks may include wildlife camera deployments and retrievals, photo processing and sorting, springs sampling for water quality and quantity, macroinvertebrate collection and channel morphology surveys.

Qualifications:

• Applicants must have completed at least three years toward an undergraduate degree in natural resources, botany, ecology, or a related field.
• Applicants should have a strong foundation in plant identification or plant systematics class or prior work experience identifying plants in a field setting.
• Applicants must have an interest in and ability to conduct projects in rural, mountainous, high desert locations and must be physically able to work in rugged terrain and extreme…