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A complete application consists of:

• An application
• Transcript(s) – For this opportunity, an unofficial transcript or copy of the student academic records printed by the applicant or by academic advisors from internal institution systems may be submitted. Click here for detailed information about acceptable transcripts.
• A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
• Two educational or professional recommendations

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

*Applications may be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A postdoctoral research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), within the Daniel K Inouye Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center located in Hilo, Hawaii.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

Research Project: The postdoctoral fellow will contribute research to projects related to the study of tropical insect species that negatively impact agriculture in the United States. Potential projects range from population genetics to microbial ecology. 

Learning Objectives: Throughout the fellowship, the postdoctoral fellow will gain training and experience in insect genomics, metagenomics, microbial ecology, computational biology, and developing data analysis pipelines.  The incumbent will have opportunities to research the integration of these fields across multiple insect species.

The postdoctoral fellow will also be offered opportunities for intellectual and professional development through access to training webinars and courses through SciNet, an initiative set forth by the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to improve the USDA’s research capacity by providing scientists with access to high performance computer clusters, cloud computing, improved networking for data transfer and training in scientific computing. Additionally, the incumbent will have opportunities for collaboration with USDA ARS scientists locally and throughout the United States.

Mentor: The mentor for this opportunity is Charles Mason (charles.mason@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 2023.  Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full-time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. 

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR).

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process, please email ORISE.ARS.PacificWest@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

The qualified candidate should have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields, or be currently pursuing the degree with completion before January 1, 2024. Degree must have been received within the past two years.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the analysis of large and complex data sets related to genomics, metagenomics, population dynamics, etc. 
• Experience working with either insects, microbes, or host-microbe interactions
• Fluency in an object-oriented programming language such as python and/or R

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Doctoral Degree received within the last 24 months or anticipated to be received by 1/1/2024 12:00:00 AM.
• Discipline(s):
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (12 )