Fish Passage Technician

Pay: $19.00 per hour  

Position Type: Temporary and hourly (non-exempt); approximately 40 hours/week (between 8:30am-4:30pm, M-F) 

Position Length: Temporary/Seasonal position. Beginning of May 2026 – End of August 2026 

Reports To: Watershed Ecologist 

About the Organization: 

Located in Rochester Hills, MI and serving the entirety of the Clinton River watershed, the Clinton River Watershed Council’s mission is to protect, enhance, and celebrate the Clinton River, its watershed, and Lake St. Clair for the benefit of communities, the environment, and our future. For 50 years, CRWC has worked to improve watershed management practices alongside local municipalities, provide educational programming for communities and children of all ages, and work to restore and enhance the Clinton River to become a place folks want to work, live and play.  

Seasonal Position Description: 

The Fish Passage Technician will work collaboratively with the Watershed Ecologist, Environmental Scientist, a fellow Fish Passage Technician, and Environmental Science Interns to facilitate activities under CRWC’s road stream crossing (RSX) inventory project. This position is overseen by the Watershed Ecologist, and will consist of a mixture of office work and time in the field, with field work accounting for the majority of the position. The position will be responsible for portions of project implementation including site planning, conducting road stream crossing inventory assessments, and processing, organizing, and digitizing data. The fish passage technician will be trained in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Great Lakes Stream Crossing Inventory Protocol. RSX evaluations completed through this position will be instrumental in identifying RSXs that limit fish passage & natural flow regimes in the headwaters of the North Branch, Stony Creek, and Paint Creek subwatersheds of the Clinton River. 

The Fish Passage Technician will be a part of the staff team at CRWC working to uphold the organization’s mission and will be expected to function as a collaborative team member, including occasionally contributing to team needs as they arise; production of high-quality work in a timely fashion; courteous, service oriented behavior towards volunteers, partners, and coworkers at all times; and ability to work collaboratively with partners, colleagues and administrative staff.  

Primary duties will include:  

• Conducting RSX evaluations in accordance with the MDNR Great Lakes Stream Crossing Inventory Protocol.
• Documenting site conditions and recording data and observations in Survey123.
• Planning site visit schedules, routes, and access points in a strategic and safety-conscious manner.
• Maintaining field equipment, including decontamination kits.
• Assisting with landowner communications and permissions as necessary.
• Maintaining survey data, including assuring quality and clarity of survey data, and digitizing historical RSX data records.
• Creating and updating CRWC’s ArcGIS Online Data Dashboard for the project.
• Assisting with writing summary reports and creating organizational documents for the project.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• A demonstrated and documented interest in the environmental realm. This can include working towards a BS degree in ecology, fisheries science, biology, natural resource management, environmental science or related field, or at least 1-2 years of relevant professional or volunteer experience.
• At least 6 months of experience working in the field.
• Thrives in an outdoor work environment – must have the ability to work long days outdoors in all weather conditions including all-weather physical activity, use of field equipment, and comfort wading in streams and rivers in a variety of stream flows.
• Willingness to deal with challenging field conditions (i.e. bugs, mud, rain, cold weather, hot weather) and adaptability to changes in field plans and schedules.
• Ability and experience maintaining rigorous data collection and assessment protocols.
• Ability to effectively troubleshoot problems to ensure integrity of data collection.
• Demonstrated ability to follow instructions and track and manage multiple tasks. Must be skilled in planning and prioritizing, and highly organized.
• Commitment to learning and applying new skills.
• Comfort with using technology for data collection and with using a cell phone app to navigate to sites.
• Must be familiar with and observe all site safety protocols established by the project team.
• Must be dependable and capable of working all scheduled hours, including irregular hours at locations throughout the Clinton River watershed.
• Must be a collaborative team member, willing to support the success of the broader CRWC team as needed.
• Working familiarity with word processing, desktop publishing, spreadsheet, and database programs.
• Must ensure proper care and maintenance of field equipment
• Own reliable transportation, and willingness to use personal vehicle to travel to site. Mileage reimbursement per current IRS rate during project period (currently $0.70/per mile) is included in this position.
• Must maintain a valid driver’s license.
• Must be at least 18 years of age.

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience utilizing ESRI software (ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro) and Survey123.
• Knowledge of the Clinton River watershed

Work Environment: The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions, unless making the reasonable accommodation would cause an undue hardship.    

• Ability to work in inclement weather conditions
• Available to work occasional evenings or weekends
• Ability to carry equipment weighing up to 50 pounds
• Must be able to get to and from work and field sites reliably
• Applicants are subject to a background check

Clinton River Watershed Council is an equal opportunity employer. It makes its employment decisions on the basis of merit and does not discriminate against any candidate on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religion, height, weight, national origin, disability, citizenship, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other protected class or status.  

Compensation: Temporary employees are those who are employed on short-term assignments and for a limited duration. Temporary employees are not eligible for employee benefits, except as required by applicable law. This position is hourly and non-exempt, at the rate of $19 per hour. There are no guaranteed hours of employment. This position is at-will. “At-will” means that either the temporary employee or the employer may terminate the employment for any time for any or no reason, with or without notice. 

The organization is an equal opportunity employer and will comply with applicable federal, state and local laws relating to the use of background checks for employment purposes. All background checks will be conducted in strict conformity with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), applicable state fair credit reporting laws, and state and federal antidiscrimination and privacy laws.  

Application deadline: February 13th, 2025 

For more information: Contact Mikela Dean, Watershed Ecologist at mikela@crwc.org