Postdoctoral Associate – Ruminant Production Systems

Position Title: Postdoctoral Associate – Ruminant Production Systems
Location: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Position Type: Full-time, 1-year term with potential for renewal based on performance and funding
Start Date: Spring, 2025 or as available

Position Summary:

The Virginia Tech School of Animal Sciences is seeking a motivated and collaborative Postdoctoral Associate to advance research and outreach initiatives focused on climate smart commodities, agrivoltaics (APV), and/or ruminant nutrition. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing and supporting an APV Innovation Network, supporting the Alliance to Advance Climate Smart Agriculture, and contributing to on-farm research focused on nutrition and productive farming systems. Responsibilities may include coordinating Extension efforts, supervising undergraduate student research teams, working with stakeholders to implement and assess climate-smart agriculture projects, and leading research focused on ruminant nutrition, precision agriculture, and secure production systems. The postdoctoral associate will collaborate with Virginia Tech faculty, industry partners, farmers, and community members to deliver actionable and innovative insights across these diverse subject areas.

Key Responsibilities:

Responsibilities may be flexible depending on the expertise and professional goals of the successful candidate, but may include:

Research and Data Collection (40%)

• Design and conduct experiments related to ruminant nutrition, precision technologies, APV, and/or secure agricultural systems. Collect, analyze, and interpret data from experiments. Communicate findings in the form of peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, stakeholder-focused articles, and other relevant media.
• Collaborate with large and multi-disciplinary project teams. Lead project teams supporting research and data collection activities.

Stakeholder Engagement (30%)

• Organize and facilitate regular webinars, workshops, field days, and other relevant stakeholder engagement activities.
• Engage and collaborate with farmers, researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals to identify needs, best practices, and barriers to best practice adoption.
• Work with Virginia Cooperative Extension, local agricultural organizations, and other partners to disseminate research insights and resources to a broad stakeholder audience.

Analysis and Tool Development (20%)

• Utilize and support stakeholder training on decision support systems (DSS), such as COMET, IFSM, RETScreen, NREL’s System Advisor Model (SAM) and others
• Develop improvements in existing DSS, or develop new DSS tools to address gaps in existing systems

Education and Student Engagement (10%)

• Provide a point of contact for undergraduate student research teams to support experiential learning projects in subject matter relevant to the candidate’s expertise.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Ph.D. in Animal Science, Environmental Science, Renewable Energy, Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, or a related field.
• Relevant background/experience conducting research related to ruminant nutrition, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, agrivoltaics, and/or climate-smart farming systems.
• Experience with data analysis tools (e.g., R, Python, MATLAB) and proficiency in managing large data sets.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders, including farmers, Extension professionals, industry representatives, and policymakers.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams.

Preferred:

• Experience with decision support systems such as COMET, IFSM, RETScreen, NREL’s System Advisor Model (SAM), or other similar tools.
• Familiarity with Extension and outreach activities, especially within agricultural communities.
• Prior experience with multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) or techno-economic assessment (TEA) for energy systems.
• A track record of publications in high quality journals and conference presentations at relevant national/international meetings.

Application Process:
Interested candidates should email the following application materials to Robin White (rrwhite@vt.edu):

• A cover letter describing relevant experience and research interests, particularly highlighting aspects of this position that are of interest to the candidate.
• A curriculum vitae (CV).
• Contact information for three professional references.
• One or two examples of prior research or outreach publications, if available.

Application Review:
Review of applications will begin on 2/17/2024 and continue until the position is filled.

Contact Information:
For questions regarding this position, please contact:

Robin White

Associate Professor, School of Animal Sciences

Associate Director, Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture

rrwhite@vt.edu

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $55,000.00 - $65,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Ability to Relocate:

• Blacksburg, VA 24060: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $55,000 - $65,000