Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Associate Agency

Texas A&M Agrilife Research Department Temple

Proposed Minimum Salary Commensurate

Job Location Temple, Texas

Job Type Staff

Texas A&M Agri Life is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:
Texas A&M Agri Life Extension Service, Texas A&M Agri Life Research, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. As the nation’s largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M Agri Life brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System.

With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M Agri Life is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.

Texas A&M Agri Life Research at Temple is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate with expertise in precision agriculture technologies, digital soil mapping/pedometrics, proximal/remote sensing, and geospatial modeling. The ideal candidate will work and collaborate closely within a research team at Texas A&M Agri Life and USDA-ARS laboratories to advance precision conservation in cropping systems with diverse management, delivering practical soil and agronomic information for decision-making at the subfield, farm, and regional levels.

The selected candidate will combine field observations with proximal sensing, UAV and satellite imagery, yield monitor data, and soil, environmental, and weather datasets to create soil and agronomic intelligence products that guide precision management at the sub-field level and inform conservation decisions. The role includes integrating multi-source datasets, analyzing yield stability over time, building and validating ML/AI-based prediction models, creating field zones tied to management actions supported by farm economics, and developing scaling-up solutions for different management scenarios.

The researcher will develop profit–risk–environment tradeoff products, build reusable R/Python workflows, and publish and present results in collaboration with USDA-ARS and university partners across Texas and the U.S. In addition, leading and co-authoring peer-reviewed scientific publications, as well as actively contributing to proposal development, are key responsibilities. Performs other duties as assigned.

• Ph.D. in Soil Science, Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, Geosciences, Environmental Sciences, or a closely related discipline.
• Strong background in data-intensive soil and agronomic analytics and geospatial modeling.
• Proficiency in proximal sensing, GIS, and remote sensing.
• Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.

• Advanced ML/AI experience in digital soil mapping/pedometrics and soil landscape modeling, and in handling high-resolution geospatial and temporal datasets.
• Demonstrated experience with precision agriculture data/tools (yield monitor data, spatial variability, management zones, ECa/EMI, LiDAR, VisNIR, and UAV workflows).
• Proficiency in programming languages (R or Python) for automated reproducible workflows.
• Knowledge, experience, and interest in assessing the impacts of management practices on environmental outcomes, such as soil health diagnostics, water quality, carbon/nitrogen cycling, and profit–risk–environment tradeoff products.
• Excellent academic record, including authored/co-authored publications and contributions to significant scientific meetings, seminars, and conferences.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

• This position is grant funded and availability is contingent on grant funding.

Compensation for this position is commensurate based on the selected candidate’s qualifications.

This position is grant funded and availability is contingent on grant funding.

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