Post Bachelors Research Associate – Biochemical Engineering

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,Earthand Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment.

In addition,we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory,a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The Energy and Environment Directoratedeliversscience and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system;

and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.

Tthe Coastal Sciences Division,part of the Energy and Environment Directorate,is headquartered atPNNL-Sequim,on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Our unique facility is the Department of Energy’s only marine research laboratory, and the capabilities of its researchers deliverscience and technology critical to the nation’s energy, environmental,and security future.

We focus on research related to marine and coastal resources, environmental chemistry, water resources modeling, marine engineering, environmental modeling and monitoring, and national security—the division is an emerging leader in three areas:

• Enabling sustainable development of ocean energy
• Understanding and mitigating long-term impacts of human activities, including climate change, on marine resources
• Protecting coastal environments from security threats.

The Post Bachelors Research Associate will cultivate and characterize micro and/or macroalgae at different scales, i.e., in well-plates, flasks, photobioreactors, and indoor pilot-scale, state-of-the art LED-lighted and temperature-controlled raceway ponds, for the production of renewable bioproducts, e.g., lipids for conversion to biofuels, proteins, lipids, and critical minerals. The climate-simulation ponds or photobioreactors will be operated via computer control to simulate the daily fluctuations of sunlight and water temperature that are observed in outdoor ponds.

Projects will involve the preparation of growth media and inoculum cultures, and the monitoring of biomass growth via spectrometric and gravimetric methods. Critical cultivation parameters such as light intensity, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, nutrient concentration, and temperature will be monitored. Microscopy will be used to confirm the health of algal cultures. Lipid content will be measured using colorimetric methods (dyes) and NMR spectroscopy.

Critical minerals will be analyzed by ICP-MS.

• Prepare growth media.
• Cultivate algae at various scales (well-plates, flasks, photobioreactors, ponds) andmaintainactive inoculum cultures.
• Monitor biomass growth and measure critical cultivation parameters such as temperature, pH, light intensity, nitrogen concentration, etc.
• Assist in the quantification of biomass lipid content using dyes and NMR sensors.
• Analyze and graph data and write progress reports.
• Conduct literature reviews and participate in the design of experiments.
• Contribute to writing of manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Candidates must have received a Bachelor’s degree within the past 24 months or within the next 8 months from an accredited college or university.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and/or Microbiology.
• Must have experience in sterile techniques and cell cultures.
• Experience with cultivating microalgae or macroalgae.
• Experience with quantifying lipids or other valuable products from algal biomass.
• Must…