Research Assistant 2 Or Research Assistant 3
Search #: 496134
Work type: Full-time
Location: Storrs Campus
Categories: Research
INTRODUCTION
The Milligan-McClellan and Bolnick Labs at the University of Connecticut are hiring a manager for the newly created Stickleback Stock Center with the official title of Research Assistant 2 or 3, depending on experience. The Milligan-McClellan Lab (https://drkatlab.wordpress.com/about/) is in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. The Bolnick Lab (https://bolnicklab.wordpress.com) is in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Opportunities:
- Gain experience in fish husbandry
- Develop laboratory and colony management skills
- Learn sterile technique
- Learn laboratory genetic methods such as gene editing of embryos
- Conduct field-sampling expeditions for fish, microbes, and parasites
- Opportunities to do outreach in STEM throughout the year
- Contribute to data collection, analyses, and writing, with the possibility of authorship on lab publications
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Stock Center manager’s core duties include:
- Help design and install additional aquarium facility systems
- Rear and breed multiple populations of stickleback representing a sample of the biological diversity of stickleback
- Supervise fish health
- Manage supplies and ordering for the Stock Center
- Help create and manage a website and inventory system to allow users at research institutions to place orders for eggs, sperm, embryos, fish, microbes, cell lines, or gene-edited embryos
- Complete orders from users (packing, shipping, etc.), including breeding fish, microinjection of embryos, etc.
- Train new staff as needed
- Update existing, create, and maintain Animal Use and Care Protocols
- Build a set of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents on Protocols.io for various aspects of stickleback husbandry to facilitate standardized care and help new stickleback researchers learn how to work with this species
- Travel to conferences to promote the Stock Center’s services and recruit new researchers and users
- Maintain and expand stickleback microbe and parasite stocks and aid in submitting these to national biobanks
Additional optional duties may include (as time permits):
- Design and implement experiments to optimize stickleback husbandry procedures (e.g., cryogenic preservation, gene editing, microbiome manipulations, parasite infections, etc.)
- Fieldwork to obtain new stocks
- Help colleagues at UConn (undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs) with stickleback experiments, potentially including microbiome, immunology, parasite infection, genetic mapping, etc.
See the Milligan-McClellan (https://drkatlab.wordpress.com/about/) and Bolnick (https://bolnicklab.wordpress.com) websites for more details on ongoing research and descriptions of people. All of these projects are united around their focus on a powerful model organism--the threespine stickleback fish.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree in Biology or a closely related discipline (e.g, Animal Science, Pathology)
- Two to three years of post-degree experience or a M.S. degree and from no experience to one year of post-degree experience for a Research Assistant 2.
- Four to five years of post-degree experience or a M.S. degree and two to four years of post-degree experience for a Research Assistant 3
- Enthusiasm to learn new techniques
- Evidence of strong organizational skills including detailed oriented record keeping
- Demonstrated ability to work well with others
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Substantive experience with fish care and husbandry
- Experience with research in organismal biology or microbiology
- Experience with fieldwork collecting fish or other vertebrates for research
APPOINTMENT TERMS
This is a full-time, (40-hour per week), in-person, 12-month position (annually renewable). Renewal will be contingent upon performance and the availability of funding.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
Employment at the University of Connecticut is contingent upon the successful candidate’s compliance with the University’s Mandatory Workforce COVID-19 Vaccination Policy. This Policy states that all workforce members are required to have or obtain a Covid-19 vaccination as a term and condition of employment at UConn, unless an exemption or deferral has been approved.
Employment of the successful candidate is contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-employment criminal background check.
TO APPLY
Please apply online at https://hr.uconn.edu/jobs, Staff Positions, Search #496134 to upload a resume, cover letter, and contact information for three (3) professional references.
This job posting is scheduled to be removed at 11:55 p.m. Eastern time on March 22, 2022.
All employees are subject to adherence to the State Code of Ethics which may be found at http://www.ct.gov/ethics/site/default.asp.
The University of Connecticut is committed to building and supporting a multicultural and diverse community of students, faculty and staff. The diversity of students, faculty and staff continues to increase, as does the number of honors students, valedictorians and salutatorians who consistently make UConn their top choice. More than 100 research centers and institutes serve the University’s teaching, research, diversity, and outreach missions, leading to UConn’s ranking as one of the nation’s top research universities. UConn’s faculty and staff are the critical link to fostering and expanding our vibrant, multicultural and diverse University community. As an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity employer, UConn encourages applications from women, veterans, people with disabilities and members of traditionally underrepresented populations.
Advertised: Mar 01 2022 Eastern Standard Time
Applications close: Mar 22 2022 Eastern Daylight Time
For more information, contact: Maggie McDonnell at maggie.mcdonnell@uconn.edu