| Public Land Name: | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | | Position Title: | Speleologist / Field Geology Technician | | Position ID Number: | 86 | | Location: | Pine Springs, TX | | Position Description: | The GeoCorps participant will be responsible for: 1) re-location searches for known but poorly documented cave entrances, 2) GPS mapping of entrances, and 3) inventory of internal cave attributes and features. The park has need of baseline inventory data in order to address cave-related performance management goals in the next strategic planning cycle. The park has 30 known caves but only ten have been re-located and associated with GPS-collected coordinates. Several cave interiors have been mapped or sketched, but many have not. Inventories of speleothems or other internal attributes have yet to be collected for most caves. While some are known to contain Pleistocene or sub-Recent vertebrate remains, there has been no systematic attempt to assess all of the park’s caves for these resources. The participant will be assigned tasks including hiking cross-country in rough terrain to locate cave entrances, collect GPS data for the entrances, and with an assigned partner use a Brunton compass and tape to map main tunnels and other internal features using standard cave mapping techniques, accurately locate speleothem features on cave maps, use photographs and written field notes to document extent and condition of speleothems and various other internal features, and investigate potential for presence of fossil vertebrate remains. Participant will use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to organize and prepare field data, as well as using a computer to download and organize photographs for entry into the park’s geology database. Participant may prepare sketches of internal cave features and describe best overland routes from which to approach each cave. Prior to starting this position a government security background clearance will be required. This position is offered through the Geological Society of America's GeoCorps America Program in partnership with the National Park Service’s Geoscientists-in-the-Parks Program. | | Qualifications: | Applicants must have completed at least three years toward an undergraduate degree in the geosciences. Applicants with experience in spelunking, field methods, and cave mapping will be given preference. Additionally, completed coursework in GIS and experience using GPS units and post-processing software would make the applicant more competitive. The participant should be able to work in the field with little supervision, work and communicate well with co-workers, and have good map reading, orienteering, and GPS operation skills. Applicant must be physically able to perform assignments during several successive days of backpacking and/or hiking cross-country in a rugged mountain environment. Computer skills in Microsoft Excel are required. Applicant must have a valid driver’s license and good driving record. | | Position Dates: | Mar - Aug; 12 weeks; start/end dates flexible | | Payment: | $2750; housing provided | | Housing Available: | Housing will be provided at no cost to the participant. Housing is furnished in a dormitory situation (with generally 4-6 fellow roommates) with stove, refrigerator, sink & cupboards, cookware and dishes, hot and cold running water, and shower. Laundry facilities and recreation hall with satellite TV, DVD, and pool table are available. Some field work will likely involve remote site camping. The participant must be prepared to backpack in rugged terrain. Backpack camping gear (backpack, tent, sleeping bag, stove, cooking pots, etc.) can be supplied by the park, or personal gear can be used at participant’s option. Most people like to have their own sleeping bag. | Physical/Natural
Environment: | Guadalupe Mountains National Park contains 86,416 acres of which nearly 80% consists of bedrock outcrops of Early and Middle Permian limestone, dolostone, and siliciclastic units. The park lies at the faulted western end of the Guadalupe Mountains and includes the type area of the Capitan Reef system. Exposures in the park encompass all of the depositional facies of the Capitan system including shelf, reef, fore-reef, and basin sediments. Cave and karst features are found in all areas of the park except for the fine unconsolidated sediment within the Salt Basin and alluvial fans below the Southeastern Escarpment. Total relief in the park exceeds one mile and includes the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet above MSL. The terrain is extremely rugged and steep with some canyons abruptly plunging 1,500 feet. | | Work Environment: | Field work will be performed in a park environment where the terrain is moderately sloped to steep, uneven, and rocky. Approaches are frequently covered with thick vegetation in higher elevations and unfriendly desert vegetation at lower elevations. Assignments involve tasks that include moderate to strenuous physical exertion (long periods of standing, hiking, or climbing). Participant will be accompanied by at least one additional member of park staff when entering caves or when orienteering to target areas through particularly rough or hazardous terrain. Weather is moderate, but early summers are usually hot, sunny, and dry with relatively clear conditions, while mid- to late summers may be slightly cooler with intervals of late afternoon monsoonal precipitation. Sturdy footwear is a must and good raingear is recommended. Much of the inventory area is on exposed ridges and slopes where weather can change rapidly. Park headquarters are at Pine Springs, TX, 110 miles east of El Paso, and 65 miles north of Van Horn. The closest supply town is Carlsbad, NM, 55 miles from park HQ. While not necessary, it is recommended that participant drive a personal vehicle. | | # of current Applicants: | 15 |
If you have questions about the application and selection process, please contact Anny Jones. If you have questions about any aspect of the position — description, qualifications, housing, dates — please contact the primary or secondary contact below:
| | PRIMARY CONTACT INFORMATION | | Contact Name: | Gorden Bell | | Title: | Geologist | | Street Address: | 400 Pine Canyon Dr. | | City/State/Zip: | Salt Flat, TX 79847 | | Phone: | 915 828 3251 x249 | | Email: | gorden_bell@nps.gov | | Website: | http://www.nps.gov/gumo |
| | SECONDARY CONTACT INFORMATION | | Contact Name: | Jonena Hearst | | Title: | GIS/Data manager | | Street Address: | 400 Pine Canyon Dr. | | City/State/Zip: | Salt Flat, TX 79847 | | Phone: | 915 828 3251 x231 | | Email: | jonena_hearst@nps.gov | | Website: | http://www.nps.gov/gumo |
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