Postdoctoral Research Associate (Ecuadorian Grasses)

Job description

Position Title:

Postdoctoral Research Associate (Ecuadorian Grasses)

PDS002985

Biology - 318200

Postdoctoral Scholar

$47,476 - $58,000/year

Full Time

1.0

03/15/2021

12 Months

02/15/2021

03/01/2021

No

Chapel Hill, NC

The labs of Dr. Alan Jones and Dr. Corbin Jones in the department of Biology are seeking a talented postdoctoral associate who will lead a project investigating the intersection of genome X environment. The project focuses on grasses of Ecuador. The specific job duties are the following: manage genome sequencing queues, assemble genomes, annotate genomes, manage project, establish collaborators.

Grasses have adapted to a large variety of environments. Ecuador was chosen because it has had relatively little invasion, it has a great variety of environments from maritime, to tropical rain forest to alpine cloud forest. Ecuador has been part of an intact land mass for longer than grasses have appeared on Earth. Finally, Ecuador has 11 endemic grasses.

Grass genomes, except for the cereals, an important set of agriculturally important grasses, have not had much attention and few non-cereal grass genomes are annotated. The project will sequence and analyze dozens of grass genomes crossing groups with different strategies for fixing carbon, different life cycles, and different capabilities to process dynamic environmental cues such as light.

The successful applicant will be in charge of all aspects of the project and will interact with a large team, including a collaborative team at the University of Illinois that will lead translational biology aspects of this work.

Applicants must have a PhD and experience handling genomic data through assembly and gene annotation, and some experience or training with R or Python. Experience with phylogenomics is a plus.

We have funding for this position, but strongly prefer applicants who are able to seek additional funding or are strong candidates for this NSF program (Theme 2): https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20602/nsf20602.htm.

Ph.D. in a related discipline

Expertise in genome sequencing and gene annotation

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and welcomes all to apply regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We also encourage protected veterans and individuals with disabilities to apply.

For information on UNC Postdoctoral Benefits and Services click here

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