Laboratory Technician III

Apply now Job no: 538962
Work type: Staff Full-Time
Location: Santa Rosa
Categories: Grant or Research Administration, Veteran's Preference Eligible, Agricultural Sciences, Agriculture Operations
Department:  - AG-WFREC-JAY

Classification

Title:

Laboratory Technician III

Associate’s degree in an appropriate area of specialization and four years of related experience or a high school diploma and six years of related experience. Appropriate college course work or vocational/technical training may substitute at an equivalent rate for the required experience.

WFREC Service:
Incumbent practices and fosters team spirit and positive, productive relations with colleagues at the WFREC.

Cropping Systems Program. Responsible for coordination and implementation of activities for the establishment and maintenance of field, greenhouse and laboratory experiments both on and off the West Florida Research and Education Center. Coordination of off-site, regional research activities throughout the Southeast. Main crops include, but are not limited to, row crops such as cotton, peanut, corn, soybean, industrial hemp, sesame, and biofuel crops.

The activities include, but are not limited to, land preparation, study initiation, research plot maintenance, scouting for pests, proper pesticide application, and supervision of temporary workers and graduate students. Scheduling of personnel and field activities for PI, post‑doc, and graduate student research plans. Identification of off‑site research locations and implementation of off‑site research is necessary. Incumbent will work independently and cooperatively with the Principal Investigator (PI) to achieve research objectives and follow and train regional collaborators on experimental protocols for the maintenance and collection of data from experimental and demonstration plots.

Incumbent will also serve as liaison between landowners, industry, cooperators, and UF/IFAS PIs and maintain client‑collaborator relations across multiple research locations. The incumbent will be responsible for technical training of personnel within and outside the WFREC Cropping Systems program. Travel throughout the SE region will be required to coordinate regional research objectives.

Collect, Record, and Summarize Research Data and Maintain Records. Responsible for data collection, data entry, and basic statistical analysis for various studies. Data include field, greenhouse and laboratory data, samples received and sent, and other categories. Coordination of regional data collection, data collation, and ensuring data quality control across the Southeast. Incumbent collects and enters data into databases, prepares summary tables and research reports.

Incumbent will understand and train others on various methodologies utilized in agricultural research to collect, process and record data associated with, but not limited to, soil chemical and physical properties, and crop growth, yield and quality.

Equipment Operation, Maintenance, Fabrication, and Creative Works. Designs, constructs, operates, and maintains experimental equipment and keeps an inventory of supplies. Assists or independently troubleshoots, repairs and maintains equipment and facilities to include, but not limited to: mechanical shop, equipment, tractors and implements, greenhouse(s), laboratory, irrigation, soil and tissue grinders, etc. Assist with repair of the motor pool associated with this program.

Vehicle maintenance and record‑keeping also required. Use of a state vehicle is necessary in the performance of job duties.

Assist with preparation and information dissemination during field days.

Complies with Chemical and Pesticide Safety Program. Responsible for compliance with laboratory, greenhouse and field safety procedures, and maintenance of safe storage, use, disposal and appropriate documentation of chemicals & pesticides. Trains personnel on chemical safety programs and chemical hygiene plans and ensures compliance.

Performs other tasks as necessary under the direction of the PI.

The incumbent must be capable of conducting all these activities independently, while maintaining a constant communication with…