Postdoctoral Fellowship Barley Genetics and Genomics at USDA-ARS in Aberdeen, Idaho

This position is located at the USDA-ARS Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho. The incumbent will collaborate with other scientists and develop genetic, genomic and molecular resources for supporting the ARS barley and oat research projects.

The selected candidate will be involved with one of the two research projects: I. Barley genetics and genomics, and II. Barley and oat molecular biology. For the first project, the candidate will conduct genetic analysis of resistance to stripe rust and hessian fly in barley and map the key genes or QTLs related to disease and pest resistance or other interesting traits in barley.

The candidate will also perform genome-wide association studies to identify genomic regions or candidate genes associated with disease resistance, grain quality and stress resilience in wild and cultivated barley populations. In addition, (S)
He will also participate in the collaborative wild barley genomics project and characterize useful genes in wild barley species. For the second project, the candidate will clone the genes controlling stripe rust resistance and grain quality in barley, investigate the molecular functions of the candidate genes and validate the gene functions with transformation and molecular experiments. Meantime, the candidate will also analyze the gene-edited plants to improve grain quality in barley and oat.

The candidate will have a responsibility to publish manuscripts and present research at scientific conferences.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields (e.g., Plant Genetics and Breeding, Plant Biology, Genomics, Evolutionary Biology) within five years of the appointment start date or can earn the degree by January 1, 2027. The participant should be a U.S. CITIZEN and a good team player who can work closely with others to collect and analyze data for publications.

Preferred skills include:
1) strong background in genetic analysis, linkage map, QTL analysis, GWAS, and marker development;
2) experiences and expertise to analyze high through put data sets including short- and long-read genomic and transcriptomic data, and develop or apply related software for data mining;
3) familiar with Linux and R and have good skills in statistics and data summary;
4) excellent experiences with molecular experiments;
5) experience in disease or pest evaluation in field or under controlled conditions.

Stipend

The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate. The stipend range is $74,678- $79,658 per year.

The appointment will initially be forone yearbut can berenewed for three to five years based on
the performance and the availability of funds.