USDA-ARS Pulse Plant Genetic Resources, Population Genetics and Breeding

Organization

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA-ARS-PWA-

10/9/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

• Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located in Pullman, Washington.

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.

Temperate pulses (i.e. peas, chickpeas and lentils) are important plant‑based protein sources and rotational crops, and their plant genetic resource (PGR) collections contain important genetic diversity for crop improvement. Improved methodology for regenerations would increase efficiency of the genebanks. Systematic and thorough genotypic and phenotyped characterization would improve collection utility and aid in Genomewide Association Studies (GWAS).

Apply high‑throughput genomics and phenomics tools to characterize the USDA ARS National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) pea, lentil and chickpea collections, (up to ~9,000 accessions). Research seed viability testing, regeneration protocols including breaking dormancy of crop wild relative species, and more efficient long‑term seed storage conditions. Data analyses including data handling, filtering, and calculations of genetic diversity, relationships, and GWAS. Upload data into public databases to ensure all data becoming publicly available.

During the educational appointment, you will collaborate closely with Washington State University pulse breeders and geneticists, PGITRU unit members and established USDA ARS/academic collaborators while conducting research. The pulse collections will be characterized during regeneration activities in the field in Pullman and Central Ferry, Washington. Genotyping activities will be outsourced, and data receipt and initial quality assessment will be coordinated with the genotyping service institution.

You will receive sequence/genotype data, conduct analyses to survey variation, calculate relationships, and other relevant analyses of genebank accessions. High‑throughput analyses of agronomic traits and seed nutritional traits can be complimented with measurements of biotic and/or abiotic resistance following standard phenotyping protocols. You will interact with collaborators to upload genotypic and phenotypic data directly into the GRIN‑Global database or to link all data via an external public platform for access.

The program has office, laboratory, greenhouse, field space, equipment, and supplies for planned experiments. Staff, collaborators, and lead scientists will support you in technical aspects of project.

• Estimating genetic diversity and population structure among and between all accessions in the collection,
• Correct accession taxonomic assignments,
• Redundancy identification leading to increased efficiency,
• Gaps in coverage revealed leading to targets for acquisition, and;
• Aptly characterized PGR accessions in collections that can be used to identify subsets of variation for in‑house and stakeholder mining of beneficial alleles in pre‑breeding.

This last result will allow US breeders to create new varieties that are more nutritious, require fewer chemical or irrigation inputs, and be more resistant to new insect, disease, or environmental threats, thus increasing farmer profits. With fully characterized collections, breeders and geneticists can request the best accessions for their research programs, including…