Junior Specialist - Hess Lab

In general, it is inappropriate to appoint an individual with a Master's or doctoral degree in the relevant discipline or a baccalaureate degree plus three or more years of experience with the specialized methods as a Junior Specialist.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
RESEARCH IN SPECIALIZED AREAS (90%)
a. The Junior Specialist will use their academic and professional expertise to make scientific contributions to a research study and will contribute to published research. Under the general direction of the Principal Investigator, the Junior Specialist will collaborate with other research personnel as part of projects that concentrate on microbiomes and microbial enzymes from the rumen and other anaerobic ecosystems. Specifically, the research focuses on the interaction of individual microbes, microbial populations and microbial enzymes with each other and their environments with particular focus on the rumen environment. Outcomes of our research includes an enhanced understanding of microbial interactions and improved strategies to render agricultural practices more sustainable and productive.
b. The Junior Specialist will be actively engaged in preparation of samples for microbiome analysis, standard microbiological techniques, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell culture, molecular biology techniques such as PCR and qPCR and bacterial transformations. The Junior specialist will also be participating in the generation and analysis of omics data.
c. The Junior Specialist will assist with laboratory maintenance tasks, including safety management, maintaining the chemical inventory, managing lab waste, and other lab maintenance tasks.
d. The Junior Specialist will be responsible for quality checking of results and for maintaining appropriate backups of project data.
e. The Junior Specialist will draft tables and figures for scientific publications. Similarly, the candidate will participate in the drafting and revising of study manuscripts on an as needed basis.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND ACTIVITY (5%)
a. The Junior Specialist will participate in appropriate professional societies or groups in the field of microbiology, animal science, and biotechnology.
b. The Junior Specialist will offer technical and creative contributions to the manuscript preparation.
c. The Junior Specialist will conduct literature searches for articles relevant to the research topic, engage in discussions of data with the Principal Investigators, and contribute to manuscript preparation and presentation of research findings.

UNIVERSITY AND PUBLIC SERVICE (5%)
The Junior Specialist is expected to mentor undergraduates or student interns working in the Hess Lab.

* BS in microbiology, molecular biology, or other related field

* Experience in microbiological research
* Experience in basic laboratory practices including sterile technique, serial dilutions, plating, pipetting, etc.
* Experience with in-vitro gut systems
* Experience with aseptic and anaerobic technique
* Experience with maintaining laboratory supply and reagent inventory
* Familiarity with standard software (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
* Experience with operating gas chromatographs (GC) and analyze GC data
* Excellent communication and organizational skills

* Knowledge of plating methods for propagation, enumeration and isolation of bacterial species
* Experience in environmental DNA extractions and PCR
* Experience using PCR and quantitative real-time PCR
* Species identification by the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences
* Identification of bacteria in mixed communities (high-throughput DNA sequencing and bioinformatics)
* Protein analysis by Western blot
* Experience with enzyme characterization
* Experience with Ankom bioreactors
* Experience with handling large animals (i.e., ruminants)
* Comfortable working with biological human and animal samples.

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
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