Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Agency

Texas A&M Agrilife Research

Department

Entomology

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

College Station, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

About Texas A&M AgriLife

Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Texas A&M AgriLife Research

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University

Texas A&M Forest Service

Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

As the nation’s largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.

Click here to learn more about how you can be a part of AgriLife and make a difference in the world!

Position Information

Position Description:

In collaboration with others at Texas A&M and Texas Tech, our team will rapidly formulate a field-ready treatment for screwworm-caused myasis into three formats: a wound-conforming foam for high-retention coverage, a bio-adhesive spray for rapid application, and an immersion-wash for high-throughput treatment. The team will also perform veterinary safety and residue testing generating final formulations for dairy and beef cattle to measure active ingredient concentrations in milk, plasma, and edible tissues to determine the exact time required for the active ingredients to clear the body. We are seeking an enthusiastic, driven, and independent individual to join our team as a Postdoctoral Research Associate to rapidly lead research efforts focused on quantifying larvicidal performance against C. macellaria as a proxy and C. hominivorax prior to final confirmation, reporting LC90, LC99, and time-to-kill metrics. The successful candidate will measure dose-sparing efficacy by determining the reduction in synthetic active ingredients required to effectively kill larvae when combined with botanicals as compared to single product active baselines. Due to the state of emergency of C. hominivorax re-emergence, this is a research leadership role requiring independent scientific research skills primarily including an organized efficiency for planning and scheduling experiments with live organisms, a demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate with multi-institutional/multidisciplinary mentor supportive personnel, and a strong publication record.

Responsibilities :

- Support blow fly colony maintenance.

- Lead larvicidal efficacy baseline dose–response and time-to-kill benchmarks for single active ingredients and combinations of active ingredients against secondary screwworms.

- Effectively communicate and collaborate with chemical engineers, veterinarians, microbial ecologists, and entomologists to execute and complete a five-objective project within two years. 

- Managing data pipelines, ensuring data integrity, and leading quantitative analyses. 

- Producing peer-reviewed manuscripts, quarterly technical reports, and presentations for annual scientific and sponsor-required monthly meetings. 

- Mentoring supportive personnel (i.e., research technicians and undergraduate research assistants) providing leadership and quality control for all data collection, data organization, and project execution to publication.

- Be an engaged and active community member of the Kaufman lab by participating as a respectful team player of the lab group.

Required Qualifications:

- A PhD in entomology, chemistry, animal science, toxicology, or a closely related field.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Strong background in pesticide formulation generation and/or efficacy testing experience with arthropods.

- Strong background in arthropod handling and/or rearing experience.

- Strong background in livestock handling or working in those systems experience.

- Experience and eagerness in finding, curating, submitting, and obtaining research grants or fellowships. 

- Experience in mentoring researchers in training. 

- Experience in Extension or outreach. 

- Experience working with arthropods. 

- Experience working with live-animals in a research or medical setting. 

- Experience with invertebrates colony rearing or vertebrate husbandry in a research setting. 

- Capacity to work effectively in challenging field conditions (temperature extremes, wind, rain, biting insects, mud) while maintaining rigorous data quality standards. 

- Experience with molecular assays (cell cultures, histology, PCR, Gel Electrophoresis, qPCR, etc.). 

- Experience with data management, statistical analysis (including but not limited to, probit models for determination of LC/D), and the ability to generate figures/summaries of key results.

- Experience with arthropod identification via taxonomic dichotomous keys.

Required Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities: 

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills to demonstrate the ability to cultivate and maintain professional working relationships with people of various backgrounds. 

- Peer-reviewed publications demonstrating independent research contributions, project execution, and scientific writing. 

- Proficiency in quantitative methods and statistical analysis 

- Phenomenal data organizational skills including maintaining organized data/samples in a timely and detailed manner both physically and virtually; to ensure transparent records for all collaborators.

- Demonstrated capacity to independently troubleshoot issues. 

- Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others. 

- Ability and willingness to occasionally work extended hours including weekends and holidays, as determined by arthropod care and experimental needs. 

- Ability to work in confined spaces at site while caring for arthropods. 

- Willingness to work with live-arthropods, including potentially live-animals, and to follow animal welfare, safety, and compliance requirements in a research environment. 

- Willingness to work with arthropods in unpleasant conditions and with offensive odors from animal products. 

- Maintaining knowledge and implementation of lab standard operating procedures, workspace preparation, lab techniques, and safety.

Other Requirements or Other Factors: 

- Opportunities to participate in other ongoing projects in the lab will arise as skill set, interest, project progression, and independence is demonstrated. 

- Must be willing to work with pesticides and potentially biosafety risk group agents of level 2. 

- Work may require standing/sitting at for extended periods of time. 

- Occasional weekend duties to support active research is required. 

- Work occasionally requires hot, outdoor environments in remote areas. 

- Occasional overnight and/or weekend travel associated with research or conferences. 

- Through the USDA cooperative agreement this position is for 2 years. Acquiring additional funding may be supported depending on the postdoctoral research associate’s ability to lead grant procurement.

What You Need to Know

Salary: Compensation for this position is commensurate based on the selected candidate’s qualifications.

Why Work at Texas A&M AgriLife?

When you choose to work for Texas A&M AgriLife, you become part of an organization that is an established leader in agriculture and life sciences with a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of our statewide, national, and international constituents.

In addition, Texas A&M AgriLife offers a comprehensive benefit pack age including the following:

Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums

12-15 days of annual paid