Postdoctoral Scholar in Marine Paleoecology and Sedimentary DNA; sedaDNA)

The Hill Ocean Climate Lab invites applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar to lead an innovative project investigating long-term marine ecosystem responses to historical climate change along the California coast. Modern marine communities face unprecedented stress from concurrent deoxygenation, ocean warming, harmful algal blooms, and acidification. The successful candidate will pioneer the application of sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) in California marine sediments.

The postdoctoral scholar will reconstruct ancient ecological communities using available sediment cores, paired with existing paleoproxy data. The postdoctoral scholar will interact with and benefit from a vibrant community of researchers focused on paleoecology, oceanography, climate change, and marine conservation within the Hill Lab, the Earth & Planetary Sciences Department, Bodega Marine Laboratory, and UC Davis more broadly.

• Lead the isolation, amplification, and high-throughput sequencing of sedaDNA from marine sediment cores. Optimize and implement specialized ancient DNA protocols in clean-lab environments to avoid modern contamination.
• Perform advanced bioinformatic processing and statistical analysis of metagenomic or metabarcoding datasets.
• Integrate genomic datasets with published paleoproxy records (e.g., stable isotopes, microfossil data, sedimentary characteristics).
• Work closely with mentors, peers, and collaborators to integrate this work with ongoing research in the laboratory on paleoecology, oceanography, marine conservation, and biodiversity.

• Prepare manuscripts for publication in high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific journals.
• Present research findings at national and international conferences (e.g., AGU, Ocean Sciences Meeting).

• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to undergraduate and graduate students working in the laboratory.
• Participate in departmental seminars, lab meetings, and public outreach activities highlighting marine conservation and climate change.

• Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Marine Science, Molecular Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Bioinformatics, or a closely related field by the start date of the appointment.
• Demonstrated experience with molecular biology techniques, specifically DNA extraction from challenging environmental samples (e.g., sediment, soil, or ancient tissues) and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) library preparation.
• Strong bioinformatic pipeline skills (e.g., R, Python, Bash) for analyzing community ecology or environmental DNA data.
• Experience with collaboration and interdisciplinary research
• Familiarity with marine paleoecology, paleoceanography, or interpreting traditional paleoproxies.

• Experience working in a dedicated clean-room environment or handling low-copy/degraded DNA.
• A proven track record of peer-reviewed publications and strong scientific communication skills.

• Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences, Marine Science, Molecular Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Bioinformatics, or a closely related field by the start date of the appointment.
• Demonstrated experience with molecular biology techniques, specifically DNA extraction from challenging environmental samples (e.g., sediment, soil, or ancient tissues) and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) library preparation.
• Strong bioinformatic pipeline skills (e.g., R, Python, Bash) for analyzing community ecology or environmental DNA data.
• Experience with collaboration and interdisciplinary research
• Familiarity with marine paleoecology, paleoceanography, or interpreting traditional paleoproxies.