Assistant Research Scientist

Texas A&M University System • College Station, TX

1d • Onsite

About The Position

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.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Entomology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Biology, Animal Physiology, or other closely related field.
• Ability to travel to South Texas or and Kerrville, TX for a few days at the time, even if sporadically.
• For this travel, a USA driver license may be required if not immediately, shortly upon hire.
• If not able to drive will be required to accompany other researchers for tasks at the Edinburg USDA-ARS for a few days.
• Ability to work in a biosafety level 2 laboratory which requires certification for this level at TAMU.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated research experience/background in bioassays, molecular biology techniques (including qRT-PCR, cloning, basic microbiology, and western blot), experimental design and basic statistical analysis.
• Experience with histochemistry and/or cellular techniques (tissue culture); manuscript writing experience; and have a peer-reviewed publication record.
• An interest in arthropod neurobiology and physiology, and experience with mosquitoes and/or other blood feeders highly desirable.
• Must know biochemical calculations to prepare buffers, media, solutions and correct dilutions of small molecules and peptides.
• Some related research experience.
• Publications.
• Able to analyze data statistically with either GraphPad Prism, or R, SAS.

Responsibilities

• Record and analyze data/results; report research through regular oral presentations and reports and publish in a timely manner in refereed journals; assist with research grant project reports; and keep abreast of all current literature on subject matter, etc.
• Contribute to the success and renewal of federally funded projects.
• Work involves mammalian cell culture and use of robots for high-throughput screens (experience desirable but will be trained on this).
• Duties will include cloning and functional expression analysis of tick and fire ant G-protein coupled receptors in mammalian cells; calcium fluorescence and bioluminescence assays, histochemistry, quantitative (Real-time PCR), etc.; and supervision of technical staff, graduate and undergraduate students.
• Conduct research with mosquitoes of public health importance.
• Conduct research with ticks of medical and/or agricultural importance.
• Conduct feeding and pesticide mosquito bioassays in the laboratory.
• Other job-related duties as required.

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance (AgriLife contributes to premiums)
• 12–15 annual paid holidays
• Up to 8 hours/month sick leave and at least 8 hours/month vacation
• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
• Employee Wellness Initiative
• Access to ongoing professional development and training through Aspire, LinkedIn Learning, and internally developed programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree