USDA-ARS Postdoctoral Fellowship on Genetic improvement of Sugar Beet Resistance to Disease and

Organization

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA-ARS-PWA-

11/13/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Northwest Irrigation & Soils Research Lab (NWISRL) located in Kimberly Idaho.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well‑being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources;

and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

The sugar beet research program at the NWISRL develops genetic resources to help improve resistance to disease and abiotic stress. The research project with which you will participate will focus on the evaluation of diverse germplasm, with special interest in responses to the beet curly top virus, Rhizomania disease, as well as early seedling freezing tolerance. As part of this project, you will have the opportunity to characterize diverse accessions of cultivated and wild through multifaceted, modern techniques (genomic, expression analyses, proteomics, metabalomics, etc).

This project aims to use these techniques to understand stress response and resistance mechanisms and identify valuable accessions and genetic haplotypes for future breeding and genetic interventions. This mentorship opportunity offers research training in plant genomics and breeding techniques, plant pathology, bioinformatics as well as the statistical analysis of collected data. You will also be able to improve science communication experience through the drafting and publishing of scientific manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, as well as present research at scientific conferences.

• Learn to evaluate diverse sugar beet germplasm for resistance to beet curly top virus, Rhizomania disease, and early seedling freezing stress.
• Develop skills in genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic techniques to characterize cultivated and wild accessions.
• Build knowledge in plant stress-response and resistance mechanisms and how these inform breeding and genetic-improvement strategies.
• Gain hands‑on experience in plant genomics, plant pathology, bioinformatics, and statistical data analysis within an applied agricultural research context.
• Build proficiency in scientific communication, including drafting manuscripts for peer‑reviewed journals and presenting research at scientific conferences.

The mentor for this opportunity is Evan Long (Evan.Long). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

January 4, 2027. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

The appointment is full time.

The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. The anticipated stipend range is $5,500 - $6,300 monthly.

This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment‑related benefits. Proof of health insurance is…