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Q&A: USGS Alaska Science Opportunities for Alaska Pacific University Students Active

By Alaska Science Center August 14, 2023

In Alaska, the USGS has its primary office located on the campus of Alaska Pacific University (APU). This co-location provides USGS staff and APU students and faculty numerous opportunities for science collaboration and training. Here, we provide more information about these opportunities and talk with USGS and APU staff who are helping to coordinate the program.

Return to USGS Alaska Q&A Series

The USGS Alaska Science Center, Volcano Science Center, and the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center all have their primary offices located in Anchorage and on the campus of Alaska Pacific University (APU). USGS and APU have a long history of providing science opportunities for students. These have typically been through volunteer agreements that allow students to work on USGS projects, gain experience and training in science fields, and find opportunities to turn some of their work into material for their required junior year practica and senior projects at APU. Those opportunities will continue, but there is now an additional program available to USGS staff and APU students: the USGS STEM Educational Partnerships.

Here, we talk with Karlene Crawford, Regional Management Officer for the USGS Alaska Regional Office, and Anita Kroska and Nathan Wolf, with the Fisheries, Aquatic Science, & Technology (FAST) Lab at APU about these student opportunities.

What is the USGS STEM Educational Partnerships?

Karlene: USGS is committed to increasing the diversity of its workforce and providing quality mentorship and employment opportunities for students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations.

The USGS STEM Educational Partnership Program provides students who attend minority-serving institutions (MSI), including Alaska Pacific University, with training opportunities at the USGS. The program benefits USGS Science Centers in accomplishing valuable work during the internship, exposing promising students to the federal workplace, and ultimately training scientists who may later become leaders in their profession and our organization. More information about the national STEM Educational Partnerships Program can be found here and the steps and timeline for the program is below.

That’s great! I understand there are certain study requirements for APU students that volunteer internships with USGS can really help with.  Anita and Nathan, can you elaborate on those APU practicums and projects and how USGS internships can help with those?

Anita: At the Junior level, undergraduate students are required to complete a 4-credit Junior Practicum. This Practicum provides the opportunity for students to gain professional experience and practical scientific skills under the guidance of an APU Faculty member and a working practitioner. This invaluable experience often results in a collaborative mentorship and helps to complete important applied projects for the practitioner. We encourage students to begin thinking about the practicum well before their junior year.

Nathan: The USGS STEM Educational Partnerships Program is an ideal path for students to fulfill their Junior Practicum and Senior Project course requirements and to gain valuable direct mentorship. The required 8-credit Senior Project is a way for students to demonstrate what they have learned, and to stretch their knowledge, independence, creativity, and critical thinking skills. This project is a natural follow-up to a student’s Junior Practicum that offers further opportunities for skills development, critical thinking, and scientific communication. The USGS Student Fellowship Program offers students applied projects of an appropriate scope and duration with carefully considered parameters and outcomes. Both the Junior Practicum and Senior Project courses require forethought and planning, so we encourage students to begin planning early with their faculty advisor, and to apply to USGS Fellowship opportunities in the Fall.

What kinds of science activities have students been involved with through these different USGS programs?

Anita: APU student Toshio Matsuoka has been working with USGS since August of 2022 on several different projects. The initial USGS project that he applied for was to produce science outreach videos for USGS research programs. Toshio worked with several scientists at the Alaska Science Center and produced four videos that help to describe the work of the USGS in Alaska. Toshio also developed graphics for outreach materials that were distributed at the first ever USGS Bike to Work Day event in Anchorage this past May. He then assisted with different field data collection efforts and is now working on his Senior Project with USGS.

Nathan: APU student Jessica Byrd provided valuable assistance in archiving and managing the USGS Molecular Ecology Lab’s collection of biological samples and in the process, learned a great deal about the genetic research conducted by the USGS.  Emily Racenet and Sylvia Taylor scored hundreds of videos to gather important information on the forage and migration of the Porcupine Caribou Herd in northern Canada and Alaska.

Anita: Past students have also worked closely with USGS scientist Kim Kloecker on sea otter foraging observations in Cook Inlet and determining the age of dead sea otters that are found on beaches in Prince William Sound each spring. These data help USGS to keep track of sea otter population health in southcentral Alaska.

These sound like great opportunities for USGS and APU.  Thanks everyone for sharing this information!

 

USGS STEM Educational Partnerships Program

The USGS STEM Educational Partnerships Program is directed under Hiring Authority 5 CFR 213.3102(r) and allows paid positions to be filled from limited applicant pools and operate under specific criteria developed by the employing agency. Veteran’s preference procedures described in 5 CFR 302 will be followed. Appointments under this authority last 16 weeks but may be extended up to 4 years if such extensions are allowed under budget and hiring rules in place at the time, and the science center has a continued need for the student’s services. An appointment under this program confers no rights to further Federal employment in either the competitive or excepted service. This authority is not intended to be used as a substitute for the normal competitive hiring process. Funding for 1 to 3 positions per year is provided by the USGS.

Students are nominated by their faculty to apply for internships based on their academic strengths and interests. Nominated students are provided with a link to an exclusive job posting to which they must apply to receive consideration.  Interns are generally hired at the advanced undergraduate or recent bachelor’s level but may also be first-year graduate students.

Program Timeline:

November – USGS project information due to the USGS Youth and Education in Science program. USGS shares project detail with university faculty for student nomination.

January – USA Jobs Announcement open for student application. Web link is provided to USGS staff for dissemination to faculty and shared with student nominee, only.

February to March – Project and hiring managers interview candidates and make selection(s). Students are offered a science technician position at grades GS-3 through GS-9 dependent upon their qualifications at the time they’re hired. Hired students typically start by May.
Compensation:                                                                             Students are paid the salary associated with the grade level of the position for which they are hired and are ineligible for pay increases such as promotion or within-grade increases during their initial temporary 16-week internship.
Performance Management:

Because the initial internship is made for only 16 weeks, we do not apply the bureau’s performance management system requirements. However, if an appointment is extended beyond the initial hiring period, standard performance management system requirements will apply.
Benefits and Training: Interns are eligible for all the benefits normally associated with temporary appointments. They are eligible for training that is required for all employees and for training that is required to do their job. If an appointment is extended beyond the initial period, the intern may become eligible for additional benefits and training.
Termination of Appointment: Interns can be terminated before the end of the appointment for misconduct or poor job performance. In addition, they may be terminated or not extended for administrative reasons such as programmatic changes or budget constraints.

 

In Alaska, the USGS has its primary office located on the campus of Alaska Pacific University (APU). This co-location provides USGS staff and APU students and faculty numerous opportunities for science collaboration and training. Here, we provide more information about these opportunities and talk with USGS and APU staff who are helping to coordinate the program.

Return to USGS Alaska Q&A Series

The USGS Alaska Science Center, Volcano Science Center, and the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center all have their primary offices located in Anchorage and on the campus of Alaska Pacific University (APU). USGS and APU have a long history of providing science opportunities for students. These have typically been through volunteer agreements that allow students to work on USGS projects, gain experience and training in science fields, and find opportunities to turn some of their work into material for their required junior year practica and senior projects at APU. Those opportunities will continue, but there is now an additional program available to USGS staff and APU students: the USGS STEM Educational Partnerships.

Here, we talk with Karlene Crawford, Regional Management Officer for the USGS Alaska Regional Office, and Anita Kroska and Nathan Wolf, with the Fisheries, Aquatic Science, & Technology (FAST) Lab at APU about these student opportunities.

What is the USGS STEM Educational Partnerships?

Karlene: USGS is committed to increasing the diversity of its workforce and providing quality mentorship and employment opportunities for students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations.

The USGS STEM Educational Partnership Program provides students who attend minority-serving institutions (MSI), including Alaska Pacific University, with training opportunities at the USGS. The program benefits USGS Science Centers in accomplishing valuable work during the internship, exposing promising students to the federal workplace, and ultimately training scientists who may later become leaders in their profession and our organization. More information about the national STEM Educational Partnerships Program can be found here and the steps and timeline for the program is below.

That’s great! I understand there are certain study requirements for APU students that volunteer internships with USGS can really help with.  Anita and Nathan, can you elaborate on those APU practicums and projects and how USGS internships can help with those?

Anita: At the Junior level, undergraduate students are required to complete a 4-credit Junior Practicum. This Practicum provides the opportunity for students to gain professional experience and practical scientific skills under the guidance of an APU Faculty member and a working practitioner. This invaluable experience often results in a collaborative mentorship and helps to complete important applied projects for the practitioner. We encourage students to begin thinking about the practicum well before their junior year.

Nathan: The USGS STEM Educational Partnerships Program is an ideal path for students to fulfill their Junior Practicum and Senior Project course requirements and to gain valuable direct mentorship. The required 8-credit Senior Project is a way for students to demonstrate what they have learned, and to stretch their knowledge, independence, creativity, and critical thinking skills. This project is a natural follow-up to a student’s Junior Practicum that offers further opportunities for skills development, critical thinking, and scientific communication. The USGS Student Fellowship Program offers students applied projects of an appropriate scope and duration with carefully considered parameters and outcomes. Both the Junior Practicum and Senior Project courses require forethought and planning, so we encourage students to begin planning early with their faculty advisor, and to apply to USGS Fellowship opportunities in the Fall.

What kinds of science activities have students been involved with through these different USGS programs?

Anita: APU student Toshio Matsuoka has been working with USGS since August of 2022 on several different projects. The initial USGS project that he applied for was to produce science outreach videos for USGS research programs. Toshio worked with several scientists at the Alaska Science Center and produced four videos that help to describe the work of the USGS in Alaska. Toshio also developed graphics for outreach materials that were distributed at the first ever USGS Bike to Work Day event in Anchorage this past May. He then assisted with different field data collection efforts and is now working on his Senior Project with USGS.

Nathan: APU student Jessica Byrd provided valuable assistance in archiving and managing the USGS Molecular Ecology Lab’s collection of biological samples and in the process, learned a great deal about the genetic research conducted by the USGS.  Emily Racenet and Sylvia Taylor scored hundreds of videos to gather important information on the forage and migration of the Porcupine Caribou Herd in northern Canada and Alaska.

Anita: Past students have also worked closely with USGS scientist Kim Kloecker on sea otter foraging observations in Cook Inlet and determining the age of dead sea otters that are found on beaches in Prince William Sound each spring. These data help USGS to keep track of sea otter population health in southcentral Alaska.

These sound like great opportunities for USGS and APU.  Thanks everyone for sharing this information!

 

USGS STEM Educational Partnerships Program

The USGS STEM Educational Partnerships Program is directed under Hiring Authority 5 CFR 213.3102(r) and allows paid positions to be filled from limited applicant pools and operate under specific criteria developed by the employing agency. Veteran’s preference procedures described in 5 CFR 302 will be followed. Appointments under this authority last 16 weeks but may be extended up to 4 years if such extensions are allowed under budget and hiring rules in place at the time, and the science center has a continued need for the student’s services. An appointment under this program confers no rights to further Federal employment in either the competitive or excepted service. This authority is not intended to be used as a substitute for the normal competitive hiring process. Funding for 1 to 3 positions per year is provided by the USGS.

Students are nominated by their faculty to apply for internships based on their academic strengths and interests. Nominated students are provided with a link to an exclusive job posting to which they must apply to receive consideration.  Interns are generally hired at the advanced undergraduate or recent bachelor’s level but may also be first-year graduate students.

Program Timeline:

November – USGS project information due to the USGS Youth and Education in Science program. USGS shares project detail with university faculty for student nomination.

January – USA Jobs Announcement open for student application. Web link is provided to USGS staff for dissemination to faculty and shared with student nominee, only.

February to March – Project and hiring managers interview candidates and make selection(s). Students are offered a science technician position at grades GS-3 through GS-9 dependent upon their qualifications at the time they’re hired. Hired students typically start by May.
Compensation:                                                                             Students are paid the salary associated with the grade level of the position for which they are hired and are ineligible for pay increases such as promotion or within-grade increases during their initial temporary 16-week internship.
Performance Management:

Because the initial internship is made for only 16 weeks, we do not apply the bureau’s performance management system requirements. However, if an appointment is extended beyond the initial hiring period, standard performance management system requirements will apply.
Benefits and Training: Interns are eligible for all the benefits normally associated with temporary appointments. They are eligible for training that is required for all employees and for training that is required to do their job. If an appointment is extended beyond the initial period, the intern may become eligible for additional benefits and training.
Termination of Appointment: Interns can be terminated before the end of the appointment for misconduct or poor job performance. In addition, they may be terminated or not extended for administrative reasons such as programmatic changes or budget constraints.