Environmental Scientist 1, 2 or 3 (LOSCO)
State of LouisianaSupplemental Information
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Office of The Secretary – Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office
The Office of the Secretary serves as the department's executive management office. The Secretary is the chief officer of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR), in charge of its policy, administration, and operations.
The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office (LOSCO) was created by state legislature in 1991. This division serves as the single point of contact for programs related to oil spills in Louisiana. LOSCO’s mission is to minimize unauthorized discharges of oil, provide for an effective spill response, compensate the public for damages to the state’s natural resources and services, and assist the public through education, service, and public outreach.
LOCATION AND POSITION INFORMATION:
This Environmental Scientist 1, 2 or 3 position is located within the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office Division of the Office of the Secretary and is domiciled in Baton Rouge, LA. The incumbent in this position is responsible for coordinating with state agencies as well as federal agencies to ensure a prompt and thorough oil spill response, traveling to remote sites to assist in field investigations, site visits, and monitoring events. Use of a state vehicle is required to perform duties. The position participates in weekend response duty. Additional duties include, but are not limited to the following:
- Provides support for the implementation of various LOSCO programs including Oil Spill Prevention and Response, NRDA, and RRP including coordination of NRDA activities between State and Federal Trustees and responsible parties.
- Assist in maintaining the Administrative Record for NRDAs.
- Participate in activities of the State Natural Resource Response Team during NRDA.
- Assist in conducting field investigations and analytical assessments.
- Prepare reports and articles detailing project developments and technology/environmental issues.
- Provide technical advice to LOSCO during oil spill response and NRDAs.
- Assist in the coordination of oil spill preparedness drills.
- Represent and participate in meetings, workshops, symposiums, conferences, and seminars to enhance the development of the NRDA, RRP Program, and oil spill response and prevention program.
- Conducts literature reviews and searches for articles related to NRDA topics and is involved in maintaining literature citation database and LOSCO's database.
- Other duties as assigned.
As part of a Career Progression Group, vacancies may be filled from this recruitment as an Environmental Scientist 1, 2, or 3 depending on the level of experience of the selected applicant. Please refer to the “Job Specifications” tab located at the top of the LA Careers “Current Job Opportunities” page of the Civil Service website for specific information on salary ranges, minimum qualifications, and job concepts for each level.
Title/Level Environmental Scientist 1 Environmental Scientist 2 Environmental Scientist 3 Pay Level TS-308 TS-309 TS-311 Hourly Range $18.35 - $33.02 $19.63 - $35.33 $22.47 - $40.45 Monthly Range $3,181 - $5,724 $3,403 - $6,124 $3,895 - $7,011 Annual Range $38,168 - $68,682 $40,830 - $73,486 $46,738 - $84,136
**Note regarding the advertised pay range: The maximum amounts listed are the maximum salary amounts a person can make at each level over their career and not the amount we are allowed to pay a new hire.
This vacancy is being announced as a classified position and is open to all qualified applicants. This position requires the selected applicant to serve a minimum probationary period of twelve (12) months. A current, permanent status state employee may be required to accept a probational appointment in lieu of promotion. Additional Vacancies may be filled from this announcement within 90 days of the closing date.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
No Civil Service test score is required in order to be considered for this vacancy.
To apply for this vacancy, click on the “Apply” link above and complete an electronic application, which can be used for this vacancy as well as future job opportunities. Applicants are responsible for checking the status of their applications to determine where they are in the recruitment process. Further status message information is located under the Information section of the Current Job Opportunities page.
A copy of your college transcript to verify the specialized degree requirement MUST be submitted by the closing date of this announcement. This may be done by way of an attachment to your online application and/or by fax/mail. Applicants possessing an international degree must submit an equivalency evaluation statement with their application. This may be done by way of an attachment to your online application.
Transcripts can either be mailed or faxed to the Louisiana Department of State Civil Service. Fax: 225-219-1041. Mailing Address: Department of State Civil Service, P.O. Box 94111, Capitol Station, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9111.
*Resumes WILL NOT be accepted in lieu of completed education and experience sections on your application. Applications may be rejected if incomplete.*
For further information about this vacancy contact:
DENR Human Resources
Department of Energy and Natural Resources
PO Box 94396
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9396
Email: DNR-Recruiting@la.gov
The Department of Energy and Natural Resources is a State As a Model Employer (SAME) agency that supports improved employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. For more information on employment-related resources available for those with disabilities, refer to the Louisiana Employment Resources Guide at http://www.laworks.net/Downloads/LRS/EmploymentResourceGuide_2018.pdf.
The Department of Energy and Natural Resources is a participant in the E-Verify system for identification and employment eligibility purposes.
Minimum Qualifications
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MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
A baccalaureate degree with a major in one of the following scientific fields: agronomy, animal science, atmospheric sciences, biological sciences, chemistry, engineering, environmental sciences, forestry, geosciences, health physics, health sciences, medical physics, nuclear science, physical geography, physics, soil sciences, statistics and quantitative methods, toxicology, or wildlife and fisheries sciences.
SUBSTITUTIONS:
A master's degree or Ph.D. in any of the qualifying fields will substitute for the baccalaureate degree.
NOTES:
Any college hours or degree must be from an accredited college or university.
The transcript must state that the applicant's major is in one of the specified fields. Baccalaureate degrees with majors in a field not listed above which included a heavy concentration in science courses will not be considered qualifying.
Some specific scientific fields that are not qualifying are agriculture, architecture, computer science, food science, horticulture, mathematics, and science education. Job Concepts
FUNCTION OF WORK:
To regulate environmental effects of industrial, commercial, governmental and construction activities through performance of permitting, certification, investigation, inspection, enforcement, emergency response, data collection and assessment, quality assurance, facility classification, laboratory analysis, and/or environmental assessment tasks.
LEVEL OF WORK:
Entry.
SUPERVISION RECEIVED:
Direct from an Environmental Scientist Supervisor or equivalent level technical supervisor. May be supervised by higher level personnel.
SUPERVISION EXERCISED:
None.
LOCATION OF WORK:
Department of Environmental Quality.
JOB DISTINCTIONS:
Differs from Environmental Scientist 2 by the absence of independent responsibility for basic level scientific projects.
The primary function of this level is to receive the necessary training and experience to prepare for the responsibility of higher levels. The focus is on formal and on-the-job training in the multi medias of air/water/waste or environmental laboratory analysis.Examples of Work
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EXAMPLES BELOW ARE A BRIEF SAMPLE OF COMMON DUTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS JOB TITLE. NOT ALL POSSIBLE TASKS ARE INCLUDED.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST/ GENERIC OPTION:
Assists in review of permit applications for minor sources of pollution or minor modifications to major sources of pollution.
May draft permits under close supervision.
Assists in routine inspection and complaint investigations.
Participates in emergency response activities.
Participates and/or assists in enforcement actions.
Assists in the operations of monitoring equipment and collection of monitoring data.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST/ LABORATORY OPTION:
Perform routine "wet-chemistry" analyses of water and wastewater samples for various chemical and physical parameters using titrimetric, gravimetric, and volumetric procedures.
Performs basic potentiometric analyses of water and wastewater samples.
Develops skills and assists in the analyses of various environmental samples (air water, wastewater, soils, sediments and aquatic organisms) using various instrumental procedures including atomic absorption spectrophotometry, automated colorimetry, ion chromatography, gas chromatography infrared spectrometry, mass spectroscopy, polarized light microscopy, or scanning electron microscopy.
Develops skills and assists in the required distillation/extraction of environmental samples prior to instrumental analysis, or the preparation and calibration of sampling devises used to collect ambient air samples.
Develops skills and assists in the preparation of necessary standard solutions and reagents required for laboratory operations.
Assist in the acquisition, formatting, reporting, and quality control of analytical data.
Assist in the calibration and maintenance of laboratory equipment.