Lab Assistant 1 - Sharbrough Lab

Department Marketing Statement

In the Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology we study how living organisms interact with their environments and with each other, shaping and being shaped by the world around them. Our research interests span biological scales from the physiology and morphology of the individual, to the behavior of groups, to the functioning of ecosystems. We examine how organisms function in their present environments, how they have been shaped by their evolutionary past, and how they may adapt to a changing world.

By addressing basic scientific questions, we lay the foundational knowledge for addressing some of the world's most pressing environmental issues. We're fortunate to be based directly on the California coast, allowing us to conduct research and teach in a myriad of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments including the oceanic and coastal Pacific, estuarine, subtidal and intertidal marine coastal ecosystems, and mountain, chaparral, oak woodland, desert, island, and coastal terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

The Lab Assistant I in the Sharbrough Lab will be responsible for inventory management to maintain all Sharbrough Lab operations, will work with Dr. Sharbrough to design and carry out a research experiment focused on the role of polyploidy in contributing to oxidative damage under stressful conditions, and will work collaboratively with other Sharbrough Lab members to support their individual research projects.

The Lab Assistant I will be particularly responsible for helping setup field sampling and experiments at the Jug Handle Ecological Staircase and the Sedgewick UC Reserve, respectively. In addition, the Lab Assistant I will keep Sharbrough Lab website materials up-to-date, will assist Dr. Sharbrough in data management and care, and will operate standardized processes in the lab (e.g., DNA sequence processing).

Finally, Lab Assistant I will organize, index, and advise upon available germplasm (i.e., plant accessions) in the lab and organize all genomic/transcriptomic data collected from all lineages/accessions.

• Graduation from high school or a General Education Diploma and one year of laboratory experience or two years of college including courses in the natural, physical or social sciences; or an equivalent combination of education and experience; and knowledges and abilities essential to the successful performance of the duties assigned to the position.

• Less than 1 year Experience working as an undergraduate research assistant in a lab in the ecological or evolutionary biological sciences
• Resourcefulness
• Good communication skills
• Knowledge of R programming language
• Ability to pipet small volumes of liquid accurately
• Ability to read and understand scientific literature
• Capable of performing evolutionary analyses
• Experience in measures of plant/leaf physiology

• Satisfactory criminal history background check
• UCSB is a Tobacco-Free environment

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts an offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of substantiated misconduct with a previous employer.

"Misconduct" means any violation of the policies governing employee conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, or discrimination, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC's policies addressing some forms of misconduct:

• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
• Abusive Conduct in the Workplace

• 50% Support and maintain Sharbrough Lab Operations
  - Track lab inventory, identify key bottlenecks in our processes, develop SOPs for all lab protocols, help train new members of the lab, maintain/improve lab germplasm stocks, maintain/improve Sharbrough Lab website.
• 25% Design and carry out research project
  - Design and implement a lab- & field-based experiment in collaboration with Dr. Sharbrough to test whether ploidy increases energetic capacity and oxidative damage in plants, analyze data, write-up results for publication.
• 25% Support other Sharbrough Lab members with their projects
  - Obtain and process DNA/RNA sequencing data, help send DNA/RNA off for sequencing, help troubleshoot new techniques/protocols, help carry out data collection, etc.

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccinations Programs.

As a condition of Physical Presence at a Location or in a University Program, all Covered Individuals
* must participate in any…