Post Doctoral RA – Synthetic Biology Biomining

Overview

At PNNL,our core capabilities are dividedamongmajor departments that werefer to as Directorates within the Lab,focused on a specific area of scientific research orother function, with its own leadership teamand dedicated budget.

Our Science & Technologydirectoratesinclude National Security,Integrated Discovery Sciences, and Energy  addition,we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory,a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The Integrated Discovery Sciences Directorate (IDSD) leads fundamental research across biology, chemistry, Earth and environmental sciences, materials science, advanced computing, artificial intelligence, quantum information science, mathematics, autonomy, and DOE national user facilities. Our vision is to accelerate scientific discovery by observing, understanding, simulating, predicting, and controlling dynamic biotic-abiotic processes and interactions within complex biological, chemical, material, and Earth systems. We intentionally connect disciplines to advance fundamental discovery science, develop transformative scientific capabilities, and address the nation's most important challenges in energy, environmental resilience, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, health, and national security.

The Environmental Molecular Sciences Division iscomprisedof 18 interdisciplinary research teams focused on deciphering molecular-level interactions driving biological and environmental processes across temporal and spatial scales. Through computational analysis and modeling, these findings contribute to predictive understanding of how systems respond to environmental perturbations thus enabling solutions to the nation’s energy, environmental, and human health challenges. The division also manages the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Officeof Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus that accelerates the research of scientists around the world by providing access to world-class expertise, instrumentation, and computational resources.

The Functional and Systems Biology Group in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Division at PNNL seeks a motivated researcher with strong expertise in synthetic biology and high-throughput strain engineering to elucidate and exploit the fundamental molecular mechanisms governing rare earth element (REE) acquisition, accumulation, and sequestration in microbes. The position supports a project establishing biodesign principles for selective REE recovery from dilute, complex sources using genetically tractable non-model bacteria.

The successful candidate will lead strain engineering and synthetic biology efforts to interrogate and re-engineer these mechanisms. This includes applying modern genetic tools to identify genes that influence REE uptake, handling, and tolerance; modulating relevant metabolic pathways to understand the limits of accumulation capacity; developing genetic parts and regulatory systems that place accumulation and release under programmable control; and building and screening libraries of candidate proteins and regulatory elements to improve performance.

A closely coupled focus is the design and application of biosensors for in vivo reporting on intracellular metal dynamics, nutrient status, stress response, and efflux. The candidate will deploy compartment-localized sensors with fluorescent, colorimetric, and growth-based outputs, use cell-free expression to prototype designs, and couple sensor readouts to actuator expression for self-regulating release. Integration with automated cultivation will enable high-throughput screening, closed-loop Design-Build-Test-Learn cycles, and rapid genotype–phenotype mapping, supported by high-throughput workflows that link biosensor phenotyping with spatially resolved and multi-omics analyses.

The candidate will work within a multi-researcher, interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team; integrate datasets using bioinformatics tools; deliver validated constructs, strains, and data on project milestones; contribute to publications, technical reports, lab protocols, and adhere to laboratory safety and compliance standards.

** Position is onsite only, and located in Richland, WA.**

Minimum Qualifications:

• Candidates must have received a PhD within the past five years (60 months) or within the next 8 months from an accredited college or university.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in bioengineering, microbial genetics, chemical engineering, synthetic biology, microbiology, biotechnology, or a related field, with demonstrated expertise in microbial strain engineering and synthetic biology, including strain optimization and troubleshooting of engineered pathways.
• Strong background in genome editing and gene regulation, including CRISPRi, CRISPR guide design, plasmid construction, and genomic integration, with experience genetically manipulating non-model or undomesticated microbes. This includes…