USDA-ARS Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Entomology

* Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and

Location:

A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Southern Insect Management Research Unit located in Stoneville, Mississippi.

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 assigned research project will focus on developing integrated and sustainable approaches for monitoring and managing the two‑spotted cotton leaf hopper, aka cotton jassids (Amrasca biguttulla Ishida), in the southeastern United States. This research is a component of USDA‑ARS National Program 304 (Crop Protection & Quarantine). The postdoctoral fellow will conduct ecological, behavioral, and applied research on pests of various row crops, including cotton, soybeans, corn, and sweet potatoes.

The successful candidate will help with establishing a research program to understand the biology, ecology, behavior, and host preferences of cotton jassids. The participant will investigate the cotton jassid's chemical ecology and develop monitoring tools and attract‑and‑kill strategies based on its visual cues, attractants, pheromones, and trap crops. The participant will study the impact of agronomic and cultural practices on the development, population dynamics, and distribution of cotton jassids.

Alongside the mentor, the candidate will evaluate the impact of irrigation and drought on cotton jassid development, survival, and distribution; examine the effect of non‑chemical control strategies using kaolin clay particle films on jassid establishment, oviposition, host selection, and host‑switching dynamics; study the effect of micronutrients and biostimulants to impart host plant resistance and reduce crop damage and yield. Also, the participant will collaborate with plant breeders to screen host plant resistance mechanisms of different cotton cultivars to cotton jassids using cotton varietal trials and bioassays;

evaluate antibiosis, antixenosis, and tolerance types of host plant resistance exhibited by these cotton cultivars, and characterize the feeding behavior of cotton jassids using electrical penetration graph (EPG) technology. The candidate will perform laboratory, greenhouse, and field studies, and establish experiments to test different pest management strategies.

The candidate will be able to collaborate and learn with multi‑disciplinary researchers from different universities as part of collaborative research projects. Establishing collaborations with agronomists, plant breeders, biologists, entomologists, and soil scientists will help the postdoc to train and grow as an expert in the field, and as a future scientist. Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will:

• Develop expertise in designing and conducting experiments in laboratory, greenhouse, and field settings for monitoring and managing row crop pests, especially cotton jassids in Mississippi cropping systems supporting all stakeholders.
• Acquire skills in collecting, processing, and analyzing insect samples, including characterizing insect feeding and developmental biology using behavioral, physiological, and chemical ecological approaches.
• Build proficiency in operating and maintaining laboratory instrumentation such as electrical penetration graph, gas chromatograph coupled electroantennogram (GC‑EAD), spectrophotometers, and other equipment essential for behavioral and physiological studies, and data collection.
• Gain writing and communication skills…