Insect Production Worker

This is a TERM appointment not to exceed 13 months. Appointment may be extended up to 4 years without reannouncing.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement, including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. To qualify, you must show you have had training and experience of sufficient scope and quality to provide you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties of the position. Your answers to the vacancy specific questions must be supported by the work experience in your resume. For example, if you respond in the affirmative when questioned whether you have experience rearing insects, your resume must include this experience, mindful that experience may not be inferred by job title.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Responsibilities

• Separates insects into categories such as sex and/or species and controls them to prevent escape or intermingling.
• Observes insect collections for obvious changes of life cycles, deaths, and general activity, and reports observations to the supervisor.
• Follows egg disinfection and preparation protocols to establish rearing colony.
• Disinfects colony housing equipment to ensure healthy production levels through the productive lifespan of the colony.
• Maintains approved disinfectants to clean and sanitize the floors, walls and equipment of rearing rooms, and disinfects them based on established protocols.
• Safely uses autoclave to sterilize materials, water, and objects used in insect rearing.
• Follows and obeys all safety guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Pay

$23.56 - $27.69 USD per hour

About the Agency

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Marketing and Regulatory Programs (MRP) needs bright, energetic and committed professionals to facilitate the domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and to protect the health and care of animals and plants in the United States. We operate in domestic and global markets. Be part of an organization that protects the health and agriculture of the American people.

APHIS is an emergency response agency. This means that all Agency employees may be asked or assigned to participate in rotating temporary duty assignments to support emergency programs at some time during their careers with APHIS.