Assistant Research Scientist (Microbial Ecology)

Location: College Station, Texas, United States

Company

Texas A&M AgriLife Research conducts agriculture and life-science research through the Texas A&M University System.

What you will do

• Lead meta-omics and biofilm-ecology research on multi-species communities from beef- and pork-processing environments.
• Design shotgun metagenomic and metatranscriptomic studies to characterize community composition, functional pathways, antimicrobial-resistance genes, secondary metabolites, and phage-host interactions.
• Build genome-scale metabolic models and synthetic microbial communities to study metabolite exchange, pathogen integration, sanitizer tolerance, and biofilm protection.
• Develop reproducible Linux, R, and Bash workflows on HPC systems for sequencing analysis, annotation, differential expression, and visualization.
• Coordinate projects with USDA-ARS and other external collaborators, including sample logistics, data sharing, joint analyses, publications, and grant proposals.
• Mentor graduate, postdoctoral, and undergraduate researchers and present results to scientific, industry, and sponsor audiences.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Animal Science, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Environmental Engineering, Bioinformatics, or a closely related field.
• At least three years of research experience in microbial ecology, food-safety microbiology, or a related discipline.
• Experience analyzing shotgun metagenomic and transcriptomic datasets from raw reads through annotation and statistical interpretation.
• Knowledge of microbial ecology, biofilm biology, antimicrobial resistance, and food-safety microbiology in red-meat processing.
• Proficiency in R and Bash on Linux/HPC systems, metagenomic and transcriptomic tools, metabolic modeling platforms, and network visualization.
• Experience with aseptic technique, microbial isolation, biofilm models, nucleic-acid extraction, PCR/qRT-PCR, and fluorescence microscopy.

Nice to have

• Research experience with multi-species biofilms in food-processing or other built environments.
• Experience with synthetic microbial communities, sanitizer challenge assays, microfluidic biofilm cultivation, and quantitative fluorescence microscopy.
• Established relationships with USDA-ARS or other federal research partners.
• Teaching or mentoring experience in laboratory or instructional settings.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time staff employment with health, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance.
• Paid holidays, sick leave, and vacation leave.
• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
• Professional development through Aspire, LinkedIn Learning, and internal training programs.
• Work in a BSL-2 laboratory with occasional travel to collaborating sites and scientific conferences.

Hiring process

• Submit a CV or resume, cover letter, and list of references.
• Employment is contingent on credential verification and completion of a criminal-history investigation.
• H-1B sponsorship may be affected by applicable fees and Texas filing restrictions; Texas A&M AgriLife will not pay the stated $100,000 fee.