Asst​/Assoc Project Scientist - Field Stations and Nature Reserves

UC Berkeley Nature seeks applications for a Project Scientist at the Assistant or Associate rank. The selected candidate will be appointed at a rank commensurate with prior experience. The position will report to Professor Paul Fine.

The Assistant or Associate Project Scientist will contribute to research on the impacts of cannabis cultivation on native grassland microbial diversity in the North Coast Range of California. This research is funded by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The purpose of this project is to investigate the impacts of cannabis cultivation on native grasslands in California's North Coast Range and to inform conservation and stewardship of these biodiverse and understudied habitats.

The Assistant or Associate Project Scientist will lead soil microbiome, metabolomic, and soil inoculation experiments to quantify how cannabis cultivation alters below ground ecosystem function and to test restoration strategies. This includes generating and analyzing high-throughput bacterial (16S) and fungal (ITS) sequencing data from soils and plant roots to characterize shifts in microbial diversity, composition, and functional groups across impacted and reference grasslands, as well as following experimental inoculations.

The Assistant or Associate Project Scientist will be responsible for designing and implementing greenhouse and field soil inoculation experiments that transfer soils from intact grasslands to sites impacted by cannabis cultivation. Additionally, the scientist will oversee an untargeted root metabolomics project to identify how soil inoculations and microbial communities influence plant chemical profiles that mediate plant–microbe interactions.

Other responsibilities include mentoring field technicians and assisting with tasks associated with the larger project, such as coordinating community events and establishing standard biodiversity monitoring protocols at study sites. This work requires daily in-person work at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve in Branscomb, CA.