Clear Lake Junior Specialist

This position focuses on providing technical and specialized support for water monitoring of physical and biogeochemical properties in ongoing projects in lakes and reservoirs. Tasks include assisting with and supporting field sampling campaigns, utilizing and maintaining instrumentation, assisting with initial laboratory processing of water samples (bottle washing, water filtering, shipping), and helping with data quality control and data management. Under general supervision and following established protocols, the junior specialist may perform specialized benchtop chemical analyses.

This is a full-time position.

Major responsibilities for this poistion are:

• Assist with and support field sampling campaigns to monitor water physical and biogeochemical properties, including temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, clarity, dissolved and particulate forms of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, phytoplankton, and zooplankton.
• Utilize and maintain various profiling instruments for field-based collection of physical and biogeochemical data in aquatic ecosystems (e.g., CTD, YSI water quality sondes, LISST, gravity corer, zooplankton net).
• Assist with field operations of autonomous vehicles (e.g., gliders, AUVs), as needed.
• Utilize and maintain air sampling equipment located on high-access towers (e.g., eddy covariance, methane flux).
• Assist with preparing equipment and supplies required for physical and biogeochemical data collection associated with ongoing lake and reservoir projects.
• Assist with reserving resources required for field data collection (e.g., trucks, vessels) and supporting field team logistics.
• Assist with initial laboratory processing of water samples, including bottle washing and labeling, preparation of chemical solutions and reagents, water filtering, and shipping samples for further analysis.
• Under general supervision and following established protocols, perform specialized benchtop chemical analyses, including chlorophyll and phycocyanin determination, sediment/soil nutrient extractions, particulate carbon and nitrogen elemental analysis, and inorganic/organic nitrogen measurements.
• Assist with data quality control, data management activities, and instrument calibration.

• Actively participate in weekly research group meetings
• Assist Principal Investigators and Project Scientists with reports, figures/tables for presentations, conferences, and/or peer-reviewed journals.

• Assist with coordination of field efforts involving partner organizations and collaborators.