USDA-ARS Molecular Biology Postdoctoral Fellowship Natural Products Utilization Research Unit

Reference Code

USDA-ARS-SEA-

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

A research opportunity in the Agricultural Research Service's Natural Products Utilization Research Unit located in Oxford, Mississippi. The unit focuses on natural products for agriculture, developing safer pest management tools and exploring alternative crop production for pharmaceuticals.

The fellowship aims to improve crop protection from pests through the use of natural products, either by discovering safer natural pesticides or by manipulating their production in plants by genetic engineering or other means.

Employ plant molecular biology techniques to discover genes involved in the biosynthesis, transport, and metabolism of natural products with an emphasis on weed management and allelopathic interactions.

• Learn about the development and application of natural products for sustainable agricultural pest management and crop improvement.
• Gain experience using plant molecular biology approaches to investigate genes involved in the biosynthesis, transport, and metabolism of natural products.
• Participate in research focused on weed management and allelopathic interactions to improve crop protection strategies.
• Apply physiological, biochemical, and molecular techniques including RNA‑seq, sequence database mining, real‑time qRT‑PCR, heterologous protein expression, and plant transformation.
• Develop skills in functional genomics approaches such as CRISPR/Cas‑9 genome editing and RNA interference (RNAi) to study gene function and pathway regulation.
• Learn how to handle multiple plant systems, including Arabidopsis, rice, tobacco, sorghum, corn, and wheat.
• Gain experience in research advancing the understanding of allelochemical biosynthesis and genetic regulation, with the goal of enabling pathway manipulation through genetic engineering.
• Gain experience in developing environmentally benign pest management tools and alternative crop applications for pharmaceuticals and botanical supplements.

Charles Cantrell (charles.cantrell)

September 1, 2026 (start date flexible)

Initially one year, may be renewed based on recommendation and funding availability.

Full time

Monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Anticipated annual range: $60,000 – $70,000.

U.S. citizens only.

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen only.
• Doctoral degree received within the last 60 months.
• Discipline:
  Engineering (Bioengineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biological/Biosystems Engineering);
  Life Health and Medical Sciences.
• Veteran status:
  Veterans preference, degree within the last 120 months.

Doctoral degree in Plant Molecular Biology, Plant Biochemistry, or a closely related field received within the past five years.

• Experience in understanding biosynthetic pathways and genetically engineering crops to produce desired natural compounds.

9/11/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone