Avian Toxicology Technician

The EPA National Student Services Contract has an immediate opening for a full-time contractor position; Avian Toxicology Technician with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA facility in Duluth, MN.  

Salary: $21.80 per hour. 

Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required. 

• Experience with preparing and processing biological samples in a laboratory setting;

• Experience in population biology through course work or research; and

• Strong written, oral and electronic communication skills.

• Experience with birds, preferably in a field setting. 

Qualifications           

• Be at least 18 years of age and

• Have earned at least a Bachelor’s degree in the fields of ornithology, biology, ecology, environmental science, toxicology, or a related field of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months and

• Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.

EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.

The Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE) provides the science needed to understand potential effects on non-human species of exposure to environmental contaminants. Within CCTE, the Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division (GLTED) focuses on the development of quantitative laboratory, field and mathematical methods for predicting exposure to and effects of environmental contaminants.

As part of their mission, GLTED supports EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment by developing new laboratory and field methods for toxicity testing and development of new mathematical and statistical methods for analysis of toxicity data. An important research effort at GLTED is the avian tools project, which has resulted in several software packages for avian risk assessment, including MCnest (https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/markov-chain-nest-productivity-model), which was developed for predicting the effects of pesticides on breeding birds. Over the coming years, MCnest will be generalized to a wider range of avian life-histories and a wider range of environmental contaminants. Polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) will be a major focus of MCnest research, including a large-scale field study, concomitant laboratory work to support field studies, literature search and database curation. These tasks are underway and will improve the suite of tools available to EPA risk assessors in evaluating the risks associated with avian exposure to PFAS.

This is an excellent opportunity for a recent bachelor’s graduate to collaborate with EPA’s research team. Research experience includes: 

• Processing field-collected samples;

• Serving on the field crew;

• Providing support for the MCnest project; and

• Networking and exploring many career paths at EPA.