What are the responsibilities and job description for the Climate-Smart Research Technician position at Rodale Institute?
The Climate-Smart program will expand Climate-Smart agriculture and markets across organic and conventional farms in the Southern Piedmont (VA, NC, SC, GA, and AL). This work will implement Climate-Smart practices that include cover crop and reduced-till farming, and study the impacts of these practices on greenhouse gas emissions and soil health, verify and improve the USDA COMET Planner Model for Southern Piedmont soils, assess the economic and social barriers to transition to Climate-Smart agriculture, evaluate various marketing strategies abilities to influence consumer behavior toward the purchase of Climate-Smart commodities, develop an easy-to-use app for farmers to utilize while marketing value-added Climate-Smart commodities, and model the impacts that climate change will have on the suite of commodities grown in the region. This project provides financial incentives for underserved and small-scale farmers to encourage participation. The project plans to increase revenue streams and provide enhanced financial incentives, equipment, and technical assistance to guide the Southern Piedmont farming community toward the adoption of Climate-Smart agriculture. This project is a collaboration between Rodale Institute and a team of 12 universities, NGOs, and for-profit institutions across the Southeast and Midwest.
The Climate-Smart Research Technician position works on the Southern Piedmont Climate-Smart Project as designated by the Climate-Smart Project Director. The Climate-Smart Research Technician will manage the input of all project data into the project’s relational database, EyeBase, including collaborating with the project team to ensure data transfer and entry is smooth and complete across all sectors of the project. The Research Technician will assist the Climate-Smart Post Doctoral Researcher as needed in field cover crop data collection and sample processing as well as assist the Climate-Smart Farm Coordinator and Climate-Smart Outreach Coordinator as needed. This position reports to the Climate-Smart Project Director and will work closely with a robust team of researchers, technicians, technical assistance, and communications staff from 14 organizations across the southeast, Midwest, and Canada. This position will require occasional travel throughout the southern Piedmont region to collect in-field data on participating farms.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Climate-Smart Research Technician position works on the Southern Piedmont Climate-Smart Project as designated by the Climate-Smart Project Director. The Climate-Smart Research Technician will manage the input of all project data into the project’s relational database, EyeBase, including collaborating with the project team to ensure data transfer and entry is smooth and complete across all sectors of the project. The Research Technician will assist the Climate-Smart Post Doctoral Researcher as needed in field cover crop data collection and sample processing as well as assist the Climate-Smart Farm Coordinator and Climate-Smart Outreach Coordinator as needed. This position reports to the Climate-Smart Project Director and will work closely with a robust team of researchers, technicians, technical assistance, and communications staff from 14 organizations across the southeast, Midwest, and Canada. This position will require occasional travel throughout the southern Piedmont region to collect in-field data on participating farms.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Work closely with database developer, Climate-Smart Project Director and project partners to ensure data entry forms and query capabilities meet the project needs
- Work closely with the project team to ensure all data collected through the project is transferred and stored in the database properly and efficiently. Data will consist of excel spreadsheets, word documents, pictures, videos, large data sets such as continuous greenhouse gas measurements, and multispectral drone data
- Work closely with the Climate-Smart Post Doctoral Researcher on cover crop data collection
- Assist with collecting plant samples across project farms for nutrient analysis
- Assist with processing collected samples and shipping them to the laboratory for analysis.
- Assist with data preparation for reports, papers, and presentations
- Assist with and attend project related field days
- Attend the annual All-Partner In-Person Meeting
- Attend project team meetings as needed
- Attend Research Department and all staff meetings
- Assist the Rodale Climate-Smart team in any way helpful and meaningful to move the project forward and meet project objectives
- Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy, Horticulture, Biology, Soil science, Weed Science, or closely related fields
- Minimum of 2 years’ experience in research field/greenhouse/laboratory work including data management
- Evidence of attention to detail and ability to develop and maintain high quality records and other documentation is required
- Ability to follow established protocols
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to troubleshoot problems.
- Excellent self-motivation requiring little supervision
- Ability to work independently and as a member of a team to achieve established outcomes
- Interest in and ability to work, collaborate, and communicate in a team environment with individuals of diverse backgrounds
- Must have or be able to obtain a valid driver's license prior to starting the position
- Willing to work in fields with necessary equipment
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Power point) proficiency
- Must be able to lift 50 lbs.
- Must be willing and able to work in all environmental conditions
- Interested in working on a regional, large-scale, multi-disciplinary project managed remotely to accelerate the improvement of southern farmers’ impact on climate change
- Travel for this position involves visiting farms throughout the southeast (VA, NC, SC, GA, and AL) for cover crop data collection and trips to local and regional conferences and meetings, farmer field days, yearly Climate-Smart Partner meetings, and other project related events as needed.
- This is an entry level position
- This position includes a comprehensive Rodale Institute benefits package
- This is a three-year position contingent upon satisfactory performance and funding availability.
- To be trustful and respectful to all staff and visitors.
- Cover letter discussing how the stated qualifications are met
- Detailed curriculum vitae/resume
- Contact information (including phone numbers, institutional addresses, and email addresses) of three current references preferably from the most recent positions held
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, sexual identity or handicap.
