Forest Health Project Coordinator - Nevada City, United States - South Yuba River Citizens League

Description

POSITION TITLE:
Forest Health Coordinator


DEPARMENT:
Watershed Science


SUPERVISOR:
Kat Perlman, North Yuba Project Manager


JOB STATUS:
Permanent, full-time hourly


LOCATION:
Nevada City, CA


ABOUT SYRCL:

The South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) is an environmental non-profit organization that has been a hub of community-based activism, education, and scientific research in the Yuba River watershed since 1983.

As part of SYRCL's Watershed Science Department, the Forest Health Program works to restore forests across the Yuba River watershed through planning and implementing forest restoration projects and facilitating both local and large-scale forest health collaboratives and partnerships.

The Forest Health team works closely with other Watershed Science Department programs to build cross-boundary restoration projects with various stakeholders across the watershed.

These collaborative projects include long-term water quality monitoring across the watershed, sensitive habitat restoration including meadow and aspen sites, and working with private forest landowners in restoring fire resiliency to the landscape.

***: This position will also contribute to field data collection for SYRCL's aspen assessment and restoration projects across the watershed. They will support the Forest Health Project Manager in collecting baseline data, assessing priority aspen sites for restoration, and conducting resource surveys for the NEPA and CEQA environmental review process. This position may contribute to various other field work as needed, including headwaters and meadows surveys, and additional hydrologic monitoring.

This position will spend approximately 40% of the time on field data collection and field plot assessment, and 60% on office duties including data analysis, spatial analysis, report writing, contributing to and supporting the North Yuba Forest Partnership, researching and analyzing field protocol development, and supporting SYRCL's broader Forest Health Program strategy.

This is a full-time hourly position.

During the field season (approximately April - October) the Project Coordinator will primarily carry out fieldwork responsibilities, including long (up to 12-hour) field days, as well as occasional camping trips.

Camping may occur in remote locations.

In the off-season, approximately November - March, the Coordinator will be scheduled during normal business hours (Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm) with occasional required evening and weekend events, with advance notice.

Some overtime hours are to be expected, generally during the spring-fall field season.


POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Researching and analyzing fieldbased monitoring protocols for hydrologic and riparian zone assessment, including identifying metrics used to track change in ecological conditions and forest treatment impacts.
• Attending bimonthly NYLRP Monitoring Team meetings.
• Assisting the North Yuba Project Manager and NYLRP Monitoring Team in building an adaptivemanagement process for responsive and informed decisionmaking for project treatments, specifically around watershed condition monitoring.
• Analyzing best practices for watershed condition monitoring and developing an understanding of key functions of aquatic ecosystem processes.
• Field data collection in selected project treatment areas, with data gathered likely to include photo points, water quality metrics, forest health and/or plant community data, and the establishment of longterm monitoring plots.
• Assess SYRCL's existing water quality and available stream gage datasets (SYRCL, USGS, YWA) and integrate existing data collection locations into an expanded watershed condition monitoring protocol specific to the NYLRP forest treatment monitoring efforts.
• Analyze watershed condition and riparian health field data and support the North Yuba Project Manager in summarizing and reporting data findings for the NYLRP longterm monitoring plan.
• Support development of longterm monitoring plots and integration of citizen science monitoring components on the North Yuba.
• Assist the Forest Health team with field data collection and analysis for aspen assessment and restoration projects across the Yuba watershed.
• Work with internal team members and external project partners to identify and prioritize opportunities for expanded watershed condition monitoring.
• Incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge and support projects that promote inclusion and Indigenous land management where possible.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in forest ecology, forestry, hydrology, biology, natural resources management, environmental planning, or a closely related field.
• At least 2 years of post

- undergraduate experience in natural resources management, monitoring and assessment, conservation planning, project management, and/or environmental analysis and research.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and t