The USDA-ARS Water Quality & Ecology Research Unit is seeking a full-time permanent support scientist in biological science located at the National Sedimentation Lab, Oxford, MS. The position will assist in studies related to: 1) development and application of science-based conservation and management strategies for freshwater ecosystems, particularly in agricultural settings; 2) stressor-response relationships along agricultural stressor gradients; and 3) understanding and enhancing beneficial nutrient cycling pathways in agricultural drainage networks, including denitrification, to reduce eutrophication and associated environmental impacts. We are seeking a highly motivated and dedicated individual with strong laboratory and field skills that has experience participating in ecological research.
Duties: This position will entail a combination of lab work, field work, and data entry. The incumbent will assist a team of researchers in varied research projects investigating nutrient cycling in aquatic habitats embedded in agricultural landscapes throughout the Lower Mississippi River Basin. Specific duties may include field collection and laboratory analysis of water quality samples, evaluating nutrient cycling and retention in freshwater agroecosystems, evaluating responses of ecological structure and function to environmental gradients associated with nutrients, sediments and other agricultural stressors, evaluating effectiveness of local and watershed scale best management practices on improving water quality as measured by ecological and biogeochemical indicators in freshwater agroecosystems, collecting and analyzing data to estimate nutrient flux rates from inundated agricultural soils or sediments from aquatic ecosystems using both laboratory incubations and field in situ methods, maintaining and operating laboratory analytical equipment including membrane inlet mass spectrometers, nutrient auto-analyzers, and fluorometers, and conducting literature review in the area of research for new procedures or techniques to use in experiments and field studies.
Qualifications: A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. Related degrees may include: Aquatic Biology, Limnology, Wetland Ecology, Biogeochemistry, or other related biological sciences that emphasize research in aquatic environments. Preferred candidates will have specialized experience that includes collecting a variety of aquatic samples including water, sediment cores, algae, macroinvertebrates and fish; operating and maintaining laboratory equipment and instrumentation such as membrane inlet mass spectrometers and nutrient autoanalyzers; and recording experimental data.
THIS IS A PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT ONLY. THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT CAN BE FOUND AT https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/579132000 AND WILL BE OPEN FROM 09/21/2020 TO 10/02/2020. PLEASE CONTACT JASON TAYLOR (jason.taylor@usda.gov) WITH “SUPPORT SCIENTIST” AS THE SUBJECT LINE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION AND THE REQUIRED APPLICATION PROCESS.
The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.