Research Technician Level 1 or 2
BIOS is seeking a research technician with the BIOS-SCOPE project, whose focus is on detailing the interactions between zooplankton, microbes, and DOM in the Sargasso Sea. The technician will be working jointly between the Microbial Ecology Laboratory (Rachel Parsons) and the Zoopgroup (Leocadio Blanco Bercial and Amy Maas) to image and sequence both the microbial and zooplankton communities. The position is available starting March 2020 and review of applications will be ongoing until a suitable candidate is found.
The position is available for a one-year term to start as soon as feasible, with the potential for extension. It will be filled in accordance with the policies of BIOS and the Immigration Department for Bermuda. The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), Inc. is a U.S. incorporated 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research and education institution employing a multi-national staff of approximately 80 people. Activities include oceanographic and marine biological research conducted by resident and visiting scientists, and university level courses on topics ranging from marine pollution to remote sensing. Additional information on BIOS can be found on our website.
Please send your CV and a statement of research interests to:
Rachel Parsons at rachel.parsons@bios.edu and Amy Maas at amy.maas@bios.edu
Duties & Responsibilities
The ideal candidate will have a background in biology/biogeochemistry with experience in molecular biology techniques. Epifluorescent microscopy and image analysis experience is preferred. Although experience is desirable, training will be available and most important is a willingness to learn, attention to detail and a capacity to spend time at sea. Some tasks are quite tedious, requiring dedication and patience. The ideal candidate would have good organizational skills, keeping track of the large number of samples accociated with the BIOS-SCOPE time-series, process cruises and experimental work. This person will be expected to go out to sea 2-4 times per year for 1 week periods. Specific responsibilities include sample preparation and image scanning of zooplankton samples, processing bacterial abundance samples for DAPI staining and cell counting, looking at lineage specific abundances using FISH and CARD-FISH, molecular extraction of DNA/RNA, buffer preparation, data management and record keeping. Some lab management tasks will be required (e.g. ordering supplies, maintaining equipment, etc).