Research Specialist

Department

Institute for Advancing Health through Agriculture-Project Management

Research Specialist

Texas A&M Agrilife Research

Commensurate

College Station, Texas

Staff

The Texas A&M Agri Life IHA is the world’s first academic institute to bring together precision nutrition, responsive agriculture, and social and behavioral research to reduce diet‑related chronic disease and lower health care costs in a way that supports producers and the environment.

Texas A&M Agri Life is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:

• Texas A&M Agri Life Extension Service
• Texas A&M Agri Life Research
• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University
• Texas A&M Forest Service
• Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

As the nation’s largest and most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M Agri Life brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M Agri Life is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.

We are seeking a Research Specialist to contribute to research focused on improving the nutritional quality of crops through plant genetics, genomics, metabolomics, ionomics, biofortification, and functional genetics. The Research Specialist will collaborate with USDA and IHA research teams to develop bioinformatics pipelines, methods, and analyses for a variety of multi‑omics projects. Additional responsibilities may include supporting research involving animal models, as well as human metabolomics, transcriptomics, and statistical studies.

• In consultation with USDA PIs, design and execute experiments.
• Establish bioinformatics pipelines for transcriptomics, single‑cell RNA‑seq, metabolomics analyses using high‑performance computer clusters.
• Work with raw data from mass‑spectrometry instruments for statistical analysis.
• Organize and use raw NGS data for mapping to reference genomes, including DNA and RNA‑seq Illumina and Pac Bio reads.
• Contribute to the development of single‑cell RNA‑seq and spatial RNA analytical pipelines and visualizations of data.
• Develop read mapping and SNP calling pipelines for analyzing genetic variation in agricultural populations.
• Perform quantitative genetics analyses (e.g., QTL mapping) and genome‑wide association studies (GWAS).
• Assist in manuscript preparation and presentation of scientific results.
• Meticulously document bioinformatics pipelines and computer code using Git Hub and other tools.
• Manage large datasets for long‑term storage.

• Bachelor’s degree in plant, animal, and/or human biology, plant biotechnology, bioinformatics, computer science, genetics, or other closely related fields.
• 10 years of relevant experience.
• Ability to work independently and in a multi‑disciplinary environment.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Desire and ability to work collaboratively and help maintain a supportive environment for all team members.
• Highly organized and detail‑oriented.
• Professional demeanor.
• Ability to multi‑task and establish effective working relationships.

• Ph.D. or equivalent experience in plant biology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, or a related field.
• Experience in multi‑omics data integration (genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, ionomics).
• Familiarity with biofortification strategies and functional genomics.
• Experience with statistical analysis and modeling in biological research.

Work beyond normal office hours and/or on weekends as needed. Ability to lift or move light, moderate, and heavy objects. Ability to exert light force.

Salary: Compensation for this position is commensurate based on the selected candidate’s qualifications.

Position Funding: This position is funded from a grant and/or contract funding which…