Post Bachelors Research Associate – Biochemical Engineering
About The Position
The Science & Technology directorates at PNNL include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. The Coastal Sciences Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, is headquartered at PNNL-Sequim, on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. This division is the Department of Energy’s only marine research laboratory, and its researchers deliver science and technology critical to the nation’s energy, environmental, and security future. The division focuses on research related to marine and coastal resources, environmental chemistry, water resources modeling, marine engineering, environmental modeling and monitoring, and national security. The division is an emerging leader in three areas: Enabling sustainable development of ocean energy, Understanding and mitigating long-term impacts of human activities, including climate change, on marine resources, and Protecting coastal environments from security threats.
Requirements
- Received a Bachelor’s degree within the past 24 months or within the next 8 months from an accredited college or university.
- Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and/or Microbiology.
- Must have experience in sterile techniques and cell cultures.
- Experience with cultivating microalgae or macroalgae.
- Experience with quantifying lipids or other valuable products from algal biomass.
- Must write technical reports analyzing and summarizing all experimental data.
Responsibilities
- Cultivate and characterize micro and/or macroalgae at different scales, i.e., in well-plates, flasks, photobioreactors, and indoor pilot-scale, state-of-the art LED-lighted and temperature-controlled raceway ponds, for the production of renewable bioproducts, e.g., lipids for conversion to biofuels, proteins, lipids, and critical minerals.
- Operate climate-simulation ponds or photobioreactors via computer control to simulate the daily fluctuations of sunlight and water temperature that are observed in outdoor ponds.
- Prepare growth media and inoculum cultures.
- Monitor biomass growth via spectrometric and gravimetric methods.
- Monitor critical cultivation parameters such as light intensity, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, nutrient concentration, and temperature.
- Confirm the health of algal cultures using microscopy.
- Measure lipid content using colorimetric methods (dyes) and NMR spectroscopy.
- Analyze critical minerals by ICP-MS.
- Prepare growth media.
- Cultivate algae at various scales (well-plates, flasks, photobioreactors, ponds) and maintain active inoculum cultures.
- Monitor biomass growth and measure critical cultivation parameters such as temperature, pH, light intensity, nitrogen concentration, etc.
- Assist in the quantification of biomass lipid content using dyes and NMR sensors.
- Analyze and graph data and write progress reports.
- Conduct literature reviews and participate in the design of experiments.
- Contribute to writing of manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
Benefits
- health insurance
- flexible work schedules
- medical insurance
- dental insurance
- vision insurance
- robust telehealth care options
- several mental health benefits
- free wellness coaching
- health savings account
- flexible spending accounts
- basic life insurance
- disability insurance
- employee assistance program
- business travel insurance
- tuition assistance
- relocation
- backup childcare
- legal benefits
- supplemental parental bonding leave
- surrogacy and adoption assistance
- fertility support
- company-funded pension plan
- 401 (k) savings plan with company match
- 120 vacation hours per year
- ten paid holidays per year
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Number of Employees
1,001-5,000 employees
