The Inyo County Water Department is seeking candidates interested in botany, plant ecology, or biology to assist with vegetation monitoring of phreatophytic (groundwater dependent) and riparian vegetation in the Owens Valley in the heart of the Sierra Nevada. The Water Department monitors the impacts of water exportation by the City of Los Angeles (Department of Water and Power) on these groundwater and surface water dependent vegetation communities.

We will be hiring up to 6 Field Assistants to run vegetation transects and identify and record phreatophytic and riparian plants to the species level.

This position will entail daily field work during the summer on the Owens Valley floor. Duties include running vegetation transects and performing other vegetation assessments according to a standardized protocol, biological monitoring on the Lower Owens River Project, and avian surveys if applicable. 

In addition, novel riparian studies along the Owens River from just north of Bishop to just south of Lone Pine, CA, will involve working in crew of 2 or 3 to locate and set up new transects, record vegetation along the centerline, canopy cover, and identify and record riparian tree positions within a 10-m wide belt transect.  At these riparian transects the team will also collect soil samples, record fluvial geomorphic surfaces, and collect tree core samples.