Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Agency

Texas A&M Agrilife Research

Department

Horticultural Sciences

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

College Station, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Postdoctoral Research AssociateTexas A&M Agrilife ResearchVegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, Horticultural Sciences

Required Education: Doctoral Degree in related field

Preferred Experience: Experience in research related to ‘foods for health’ and volatiles of fruits and vegetables

Responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate lab activities, including scheduling, parts and supplies requisition, access, safety, and compliance.

• Conduct experiments linking bioactives, whole food, and microbiota.

• Perform preventive maintenance on laboratory equipment to keep them in optimal working condition.

• Perform record-keeping and quality assurance activities to maintain laboratory certification.

• Conduct experiments related to identifying metabolites in plant and biological samples. Develop and conduct research projects related to a systems-wide approach to increase consumption of vegetables and fruits.

• Work on research teams and collaborate with other experts to achieve targeted goals of the melon integrated project.

• Conduct field trials and travel within Texas as needed.

• Participate in grant writing and collaborative research activities leading to peer-reviewed publications.

• Work with plant disease samples and understand the relationship between diseases, pests of vegetables, fruits, and potential metabolites.

• Conduct experiments related to the use of nanotechnology in agriculture in the field and greenhouse settings.

• Maintain impeccable record-keeping, troubleshoot instruments, and conduct field experiments.

• Develop and conduct research projects such as analysis and method development of bioactive compounds.

• Investigate changes in bioactive compounds during postharvest handling processes.

• Collaborate with industry partners and collect samples from various locations in Texas.

• Train undergraduates, graduate students, and visiting scientists.

• Develop and conduct hands-on training and short courses as needed.

• Write grant proposals, manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals, and reports.

• Perform duties assigned by the Director of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center.

• Other duties as required.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

• Ability to design experiments independently with limited assistance.

• Competency with laboratory work and use of analytical instrumentation.

• Proven track record of peer-reviewed publications and scholarly work in related areas.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with firm deadlines.

• Ability to Maintain and troubleshoot analytical instrumentation.

• Ability to Write and follow standard operating procedures.

• Ability to Multi-task and work cooperatively with others.

• Ability to Prepare safety and equipment use manuals and analytical methods as needed.

• Ability to Communicate constructively with other scientists and collaborators.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook, etc.).

• Ability to Work evening and/or weekend hours as needed.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to Conduct independent and collaborative research on identifying, characterizing, and functionally analyzing volatile compounds in fruits and vegetables.

• Ability to Investigate the genetic, biochemical, and environmental factors influencing the production of volatiles in different fruit and vegetable species.

• Ability to Link abiotic and biotic stress with volatiles and human health to develop climate-resilient vegetables, specifically tomatoes.

• Ability to Interpret analytical data from LC/MS, GC-MS, Raman spectroscopy, and NMR instrumentation.

• Knowledge of Identification, characterization, quantitation, and metabolic profiling of bioactive natural products in plants.

• Experience in identifying metabolites in biological samples.

• Knowledge in statistical analysis tools (e.g., SAS, R, XLstat, Multivariate analysis).

• Ability to Manage lab group, supplies, and inventory.

• Ability to Perform assay development for new compounds and ingredients.

• Ability to Participate in analyzing and disseminating data results, preparing manuscripts, reports, scientific papers/presentations, and grant proposals.

• Ability to Provide advice and assistance to other lab members and mentor graduate and undergraduate students.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer.