Plant Biologist (Project Based)

WRA’s an employee-owned environmental consultancy. We are a tenacious team of planners, engineers, and scientists, and we aim to leave the lands we love better than we found them. 

Our clients and partners hire us because we’re skilled at navigating through challenging projects involving wildlands, parks, community spaces, and infrastructure. We bring over four decades of expertise, long-standing relationships, and connections to our local communities to make sure that projects are pursued in responsible ways where both people and the environment thrive. 

As an organization, we believe that independence and interdependence are not mutually exclusive. We invest in systems, processes, and employee programs to support our staff’s collective engagement and success. At the same time, we encourage our employees to operate with an ownership mindset, taking responsibility for outcomes and being true to our commitments. 

We are looking for 1-2 project-based hire(s) to conduct rare and invasive plant surveys in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, the most diverse floristic province in the contiguous United States. The successful applicant will support survey efforts for rare and invasive plants, as part of a team of seasoned botany professionals, to support restoration activities in areas impacted by the Rim Fire in Tuolumne County. For this position, we anticipate between 4 and 12 weeks of field work, from approximately May to early August 2024 (actual time required will depend on site conditions, weather, and other factors). As a project-based hire, we are looking for friendly, motivated, passionate, and adaptable botanists to work with our current crop of experienced professionals. Are you excited by the prospect of discovering new populations of the rarest plants in the continental United States, and the opportunity to hone your botanical expertise? Are you willing to travel to remote locations, and would you like to get paid to hike and camp in scenic places? Come join our team!

To be successful in this role, you will need: 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Biology, Botany, or other Natural Resources subject
• 1+ years of professionally relevant experience (preferably botany or other related terrestrial ecology subject)
• Direct experience tracking and submitting expense reports for remote fieldwork (e.g., travel, lodging, equipment, labor, etc)
• Direct experience in the identification and ecology of Northern California plants
• A baseline understanding of Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS) mapping
• WRA will provide rental or fleet vehicles for most fieldwork; however, the project-based biologist must be able to get to designated meeting locations and field sites
• The ability to walk, hike, and work outside for long periods of time, including traversing steep and physically challenging terrain in hot weather
• The ability to conduct remote field work for up to seven days at a time

Additional skills and experiences that would be an asset to this role include:

• Direct experience mapping rare and invasive plant populations
• Experience as a Biological Sciences Technician (Plants) for the USFS in California
• Experience using the Jepson dichotomous keys for plant identification

WRA has an established internal leveling system for our staff that maps to hourly rates that have been informed by market data. Our leveling system is dependent on years of relevant industry experience, education, and the level of responsibility and autonomy at which you’re expected to operate.

Compensation:  $25 – $40 per hour depending on experience. 

Who are we?

WRA’s company vision is “cultivating a sustainable future where people and the environment thrive” and that starts with our staff. We are committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment, and we have developed flexible policies, internal practices, and are investing in programs that prioritize learning and sustainability. We aim to create conditions that allow employees to prioritize their families, lead healthy and balanced lives, and to bring their authentic selves to work every day. We believe that by creating an exceptional workplace, our employees will be able to do their best work and be able to meaningfully contribute to the sustainability of the environment and the communities in which we live.

WRA is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating a diverse environment. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.