Research Associate - Shellfish Aquaculture

Research Associate 2 - Shellfish Aquaculture

The Research Associate 2 provides technical support for shellfish aquaculture production, applied research, and restoration activities conducted by Louisiana Sea Grant. The RA will conduct work at Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter Aquaculture Research Station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The position performs a variety of complex hatchery, nursery, laboratory, and field procedures with limited supervision and exercises independent judgment in carrying out established research and production protocols.

Primary responsibilities include the production of oysters, ribbed mussels, and algae cultures for research; operation and maintenance of hatchery and setting nursery systems; microalgae culture and feed production; water quality monitoring; biological sampling; data collection and management; equipment maintenance; and support extension and workforce development programs. The incumbent is expected to independently conduct routine production and research activities, perform quality control assessments, maintain accurate records, and assist with implementation of research projects.

The research associate will be required to support mussel, oysters, and algae production for research facets, including: collecting, maintaining, and cleaning brood stock, supporting activities in larvae rearing (cleaning larval rearing tanks, sorting larvae and performing larval counts, maintaining algal cultures, cleaning and inoculating tanks, operating various laboratory equipment), collecting samples and processing data, accurately determining counts of oyster seed, assisting in oyster farm & cage maintenance, maintaining aquaculture systems, and other basic laboratory skills (75%).

Occasional travel within Louisiana may be required to support field research, restoration activities, stakeholder engagement, and educational programming (10%).

Research associate will be involved in reading scientific papers from peer-reviewed journals and manuals from other hatcheries across the United States. RA will help analyze and write articles for publication (10%).

Other duties as assigned (5%).

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's Degree in Biology, Fisheries, Aquaculture Management, animal sciences or related field with 1 year of related experience. Valid driver's license required.