Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Agency

Texas A&M Agrilife Research

Department

Dallas

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

Dallas, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

About Texas A&M AgriLife

Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:

• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

• Texas A&M AgriLife 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 AgriLife 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 AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.

Click here to learn more about how you can be a part of AgriLife and make a difference in the world!

Position Information

A full-time postdoctoral position is available in Dr. Arash Kheirodin's laboratory in the Control Environment Entomology lab, with the Department of Entomology, located at Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Dallas, Texas. Our lab carries out research in biological control, molecular ecology, IPM, and habitat management within controlled environments (i.e., indoor farming, greenhouse, and high tunnel settings). Our goal is to find sustainable solutions to pest problems in controlled environments. The postdoctoral associate will perform experiments under the supervision of Dr. Kheirodin, who has expertise in biological control, molecular ecology, IPM, and habitat management (landscape ecology/ecology).

The position has two distinct major focuses, as it is funded through two different grant opportunities. The 1st focus of this position is to develop habitat management strategies to promote sweetpotato whitefly and western flower thrips biocontrol in controlled environment pepper production. The aim is to further investigate the joint impact of habitat manipulation and biocontrol delivery on the prevalence of tomato spotted wilt and tomato yellow leaf curl virus in pepper plants. As a part of this project, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work closely with our Ag-engineer team (Dr. Azlan Zahid group) on developing radar for flying insect vector pests in high-tunnel pepper plots. The 2nd focus of this position will be screening generalist predators naturally present in onion fields using molecular gut content analysis to find evidence of feeding/ predation on onion thrips. The second year of this effort will focus on testing the few selected natural enemies (i.e., based on molecular data, we select species with a high proportion of positive for onion thrips DNA) for their efficacy in suppressing the onion thrips population on onion in greenhouse and high tunnel settings.

The postdoc will conduct the experiment in the state-of-the-art facility at the Dallas Center. The collaboration among Dr. Kheirodin's lab members is significantly encouraged, and hence, the postdoc is expected to work closely with other postdocs, graduate students, and technicians. Hence, there will be ample opportunity for synergism and productivity in the lab. The CEA Entomology lab is actively researching the compatibility of microbial and entomopathogenic fungi strains with whitefly and thrips biocontrol, and the postdoc is expected to get involved in these projects as opportunity arises.

Besides the required objectives outlined above, the postdoctoral researcher will have the opportunity to build his/her independent research within the objective of this project and to collaborate with research and extension faculty members at the Dallas Center as well as the TAMU Department of Entomology. The postdoc will supervise graduate students and attend conferences and extension events.

Responsibilities:

• Conducts Greenhouse and high tunnel tests for suitability of multiple banker plants (prey based and flower based) to enhance whitefly and thrips biocontrol.

• Using molecular ecology tools, cage experiments and open experiments in the greenhouse and high tunnels to explore the compatibility of the effective natural enemies (i.e., exploring intraguild predation using PCR-based diagnostic tools) that will be released in the controlled environment.

• Conduct molecular screening of onion field collected generalist predators for evidence of feeding on onion thrips, to enhance biocontrol of onion thrips.

• Builds independent research within the objective of this project (e.g., tracing multi-trophic interactions and habitat management using crop and flowering plant variety) and to collaborate with research and extension faculty members at the Dallas Center as well as TAMU Department of Entomology.

• Supervises graduate students and attend conferences and extension events.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in entomology/agroecology or molecular ecology.

• Ability to communicate effectively.

• Ability to multitask and work cooperatively with others.

• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills.

• Substantial experience in biological control research (i.e., using natural enemies and entomopathogenic fungi), molecular ecology skills (i.e., primer design, DNA and RNA extractions, PCR-based trophic interaction diagnosis), IPM approach, and excellent data analysis skills.

• Track record of publications and experience with academic writing, and good oral communication skills (i.e., presenting talks at conferences).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with grant writing

• Excellent data analysis skills in R.

What You Need to Know

Salary: Compensation for this position is commensurate based on the selected candidate's qualifications.

Position Funding: This position is grant funded and availability is contingent on grant funding. This position is available for 12 months with the possibility of extension for another year based on the candidate's performance.

Why Work at Texas A&M AgriLife?

When you choose to work for Texas A&M AgriLife, you become part of an organization that is an established leader in agriculture and life sciences with a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of our statewide, national, and international constituents.

In addition, Texas A&M AgriLife offers a comprehensive benefit package including the following:

• Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums

• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays

• Up to eight hours of paid sick leaveand at leasteight hours of paid vacation each month

• Automatic enrollment in theTeacher Retirement System of Texas

• Employee Wellness Initiative for Texas A&M AgriLife

Applicant Instructions

To be considered for this position, please forward a letter outlining your interest and how your background fits the advertised position, your CV, along with the contact information of three references. The expected start date is August 15, 2025.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution's verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution's procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.