Pacific Southwest Research Station

Job Opportunities

The official location for all announcements for Forest Service positions in the competitive service is the Office of Personnel Management's USAJobs site at http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/a9ag.htm

Our local "Job Opportunities" page is used to high-light particular vacancies and share informal information on student opportunites or internships.

• We not currently high-lighting any positions.

Student Employment

The Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry (IPIF) offers summer internships to undergraduates interested in forests and related natural resource issues. Visit our IPIF Internship webpage for more information.

University of Hawaii at Hilo students are encouraged to apply for jobs with forestry research projects under the direction of Dr. Randy Senock (senock@hawaii.edu).

Many other forestry and natural resources internships may be found nationally and worldwide; a helpful website is provided by the Agricultural Development in the American Pacific program (ADAP webpage).

Forestry degree programs

Numerous schools in the U.S. offer forestry degree programs accredited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF); see the SAF webpage for descriptions and web links. Pacific island students considering studies on the U.S. mainland, in Australia, New Zealand, or elsewhere should consider coursework offered in tropical forestry, agroforestry, horticulture, botany, and ecology, and educational emphasis on flexible and creative studies rather than technical instruction specific to local forestry.

In considering schools outside the Pacific, look for cross-cultural and academic support programs for minority or international students, local communities of Pacific islanders, and faculty advisors with experience in the Pacific.

The USDA supports two four-year programs at Land Grant universities in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific. Advanced coursework in tropical agronomy, horticulture, botany, ecology, and soil science at the University of Hawaii or University of Guam would complement coursework in forestry at universities outside the Pacific; for example, a student might arrange to have credits from one institution transferred to the other, or might plan to pursue a bachelor's degree at one institution and a master's degree at the other.

Scholarships and Financial Aid
Many scholarships and scholarship programs are delivered through colleges and universities, so a very valuable source of information about available scholarships is the financial aid office of the college or university to which a student is applying or at which a student has been accepted.

For example, the United States Department of Agriculture awards Multicultural Scholars Grants to several universities, providing funds for undergraduate scholarships. US citizens, US nationals and citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republics of Palau and the Marshall Islands are eligible. The USDA Higher Education Programs website provides a description of this program and a list of colleges and universities that received grants in 2000-2001 for "Conservation and Renewable Natural Resources" and "General Food and Agricultural Sciences." Universities with programs in both agriculture and natural resources (forestry) will usually allow a student to retain his or her scholarship even if the student changes departments.

The Agricultural Development in the American Pacific (ADAP) program provides partial scholarships in agriculture, including forestry, to applicants recommended by Deans of Land Grant institutions in the US-affiliated Pacific outside Hawai'i. Scholars may attend any of a variety of colleges or universities, but Pacific or Land Grant institutions are preferred. See the ADAP webpage for more information.

Students enrolled in the Student Career Experience Program of the USDA Forest Service Multicultural Workforce Strategic Recruitment Initiative are eligible for academic scholarships (see below).

Many other scholarships and loans are available. Helpful web pages include the USDA Forest Service Guide to Grants, Fellowships, and Scholarships in International Forestry and Natural Resources and the ADAP webpage, which includes links to scholarship search services on the Internet.

USDA Forest Service Multicultural Workforce Strategic Recruitment Initiative
This Initiative provides undergraduate and graduate students with career opportunities and practical work experience in natural resource management. There are nine initiative programs nationwide; the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry collaborates most closely with the "UC/Davis Initiative," which serves Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. The program also provides job listings and other information useful to students of any ethnicity.

Pacific Island students are encouraged to begin their careers with internships on their home islands; for more information, see the Internship section of our Institute of Pacific Island Forestry program Job Opportunities page.

Often as a second step, students are referred to the Initiative's Student Temporary Employment Program, which places students in summer jobs with USDA Forest Service units in the continental US. For more information, see the UC/Davis website; please note that students from the US-affiliated Pacific Islands are eligible for this program even if they are not US citizens.

Students who have completed the Student Temporary Employment Program may apply to the Student Career Experience Program, which includes additional "on-the-job" training and academic scholarships. Under this program, a mutual commitment is made between the student and a Forest Service unit for a temporary or permanent position after graduation. Arrangements may also be made for a temporary Forest Service position leading to placement in an island forestry agency. For more information, see the UC/Davis website. U.S. nationals and US citizens are eligible for this program.

Students from any accredited institutions are welcome to apply to the UC/Davis Initiative; the Initiative's recruiting is most active at the schools listed below.