The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) enriches the environment and protects public health for all New Yorkers by providing 1.1 billion gallons of high quality drinking water, managing wastewater and stormwater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. DEP is the largest combined municipal water and wastewater utility in the country, with nearly 6,000 employees. DEP's water supply system is comprised of 19 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes throughout the system’s 2,000 square mile watershed that extends 125 miles north and west of the City.

The Bureau of Water Supply seeks to hire a Scientist (Water Ecology) III for a position with the Wetlands Program, Ecological Research and Assessment Section, Natural Resources Division, Watershed Protection Programs Directorate, located in Kingston, New York.

The Ecological Research and Assessment (ERA) Section provides an array of services to the Bureau of Water Supply in the fields of wetland science, aquatic ecology, invasive species management, and ecological restoration. Through research, monitoring, and environmental reviews, ERA supports the management of City lands and a wide range of watershed protection and management programs. Understanding the condition and relationships among the watershed’s wetlands, aquatic, and terrestrial ecosystems is very important for identifying and mitigating potential water quality threats. The Wetlands Program is a Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD) program responsible for implementing the Bureau’s Wetlands Protection Strategy to protect wetlands to help maintain the high quality of surface waters in the New York City Watershed.

Under direction, of the Wetlands and Aquatic Ecology Program Supervisor, the Scientist (Water Ecology) III serve as Wetland Scientist and will plan and perform field surveys, management activities, data collection and analysis, project reviews, and procurement related and administrative tasks to support the completion of goals of the Wetlands Protection Strategy. Specific duties include:

- Assisting in the planning and execution of field surveys in support of the goals and tasks in DEP’s Wetland Protection Strategy including, delineating wetlands on City owned watershed lands based on current federal methodology, conducting habitat assessments, vegetation, soils, and hydrologic monitoring to support DEP’s reference and mitigation wetland monitoring and land management programs.

- Entering, maintaining, analyzing and summarizing field, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Global Positioning System (GPS) data, to support the preparation of presentations, maps, papers, reports, and other deliverables. They will also guide the development and review of wetlands geospatial data.

- Reviewing project plans, wetland permit applications, environmental impact statements, and other technical documents and make recommendations to avoid or minimize wetland impacts from proposed activities in the New York City Watershed and make recommendations on mitigating unavoidable impacts.

- Planning and performing educational programs for the public, agency, and other watershed stakeholders.

- Performing various administrative functions such as procurement, equipment inventories, and written and verbal correspondence to support program initiatives.

- Performing related work as required.

(This is a brief description of what you might do in this position and does not include all the duties of this position.)

Work Location:

71 Smith Avenue

Kingston, NY 12401


Kingston is a City in Ulster County, New York approximately 90 miles north of New York City.

https://cityjobs.nyc.gov/job/wetland-scientist-in-outside-nyc-jid-21512