Agriculture Research Specialist - Animal Science Farm

West Virginia University; Morgantown (WV); On-site; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

37.5-hour work week

13 paid holidays

15 annual leave per year

18 sick days per year

Health insurance and benefits

401(a) retirement with 6% match

Job summary

West Virginia University is seeking an Agricultural Research Specialist to support the DCANRD REOC centers, assisting faculty in teaching and demonstrations, and ensuring quality operation of facilities. The role requires flexibility to work holidays, weekends, and outside core hours at times.

The position emphasizes animal care and husbandry, data collection for research projects, and collaboration with faculty and staff to maintain SOPs and safety standards across teaching locations.

Responsibilities

• Feeds food stuffs and commercial feed to animals daily and as needed.
• Follows protocols, policies, Standard Operating Procedures, and requirements under light supervision.
• Receives newly arrived animals and provides clean housing, food, and water.
• Handles, restrains, and identifies animals and assists in treatment as directed by vets or researchers.
• Tags, numbers, or marks animals for identification.
• Transfers animals to clean housing and maintains housing conditions.
• Observes irregularities in animal groups and reports to supervisor/vet/PI.
• Operates standard University trucks, tractors, and equipment as needed.
• Plants and harvests products for animal consumption to meet growth needs.
• Restocks supplies and maintains all animal inventories; maintains records.
• Reviews and updates SOPs and adheres to department policies and safety procedures.
• Assists in oversight of research activities including production, maintenance, and collection of resources.
• Collects research data and/or samples for the farm manager; assists in organizing data for analyses.
• Observes and records data for accuracy; prepares data for input into computer systems.
• Maintains required records, reports, and statistics per laws and policies.
• Maintains departmental policies, safety, and environmental controls.
• Assists PIs in developing and evaluating new analytical procedures.
• Performs field data collection including measuring, harvesting, weighing, and sample prep.

Job description

West Virginia University's Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design (WVU DCANRD) is seeking applications for an Agricultural Research Specialist.

About the Opportunity

This position contributes to the integrity of research, demonstration, and teaching initiatives conducted by faculty of WVU DCANRD and the WVU Experiment Station Center. This position will provide labor and knowledge to ensure the highest quality of operation of the DCANRD Research, Education and Outreach Centers (REOC's). The incumbent will provide support to faculty who are conducting classes and demonstrations at research and teaching locations. This position requires the incumbent be willing to work holidays, weekends, and after core business hours.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays ( staff holiday calendar )
• 15 annual leave (vacation) days per year ( employee leave )
• 18 sick days per year (for when you're ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family's, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information ? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ's.
• Wellness programs

What You'll Do

Animal Care and Husbandry

• Feeds food stuffs and commercial feed types to specific animals such as sheep, goats, beef cattle, llamas, and chickens daily and as needed.
• Follows protocols, policies, Standard Operating Procedures, and requirements as directed, under light supervision.
• Receives newly arrived animals and provides clean animal housing, handling facilities, food, and water.
• Handles, restrains, and identifies specific animals as required and assists in treatment under supervision or independently as directed from veterinarian staff or researchers (i.e. Soundness exam, weighing, cleaning housing facilities, relocating pastures, etc.).
• Tags, numbers, or otherwise marks animals for identification.
• Transfers animals to clean housing.
• Observes any irregularities in animal groups such as abnormal food and water consumption, deaths, abnormal stool, unusual behavior, injury, or distress and reports irregularities to supervisor, veterinarian, and/or Research Principal Investigator (PI).
• Performs other technical duties as required for animal care and husbandry to meet and exceed Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Expectations and Guidelines.
• Cleans, sweeps, scrubs, and sanitizes animal housing and working facilities. Provides clean bedding, fresh food and fresh water daily or as needed to ensure proper animal care and compliance with Standard Operating Procedures.
• Following standardized procedures, disposes of animal carcasses and other waste.
• Operates standard transmission and automatic University trucks, tractors, and equipment needed to complete tasks.
• Plants and harvests products for animal consumption to meet optimal growth and capacity.
• Restocks supplies and maintains all animal inventories. Unloads, stores feed/bedding upon delivery or transfer, and maintains accurate records, reports, and statistics.
• Reviews and updates Standard Operating Procedures in their area, as required.
• Maintains established department policies, procedures, objectives, quality assurance. Attends required meetings, seminars and classes.
• Other relevant duties necessary to fulfill the mission of the REOC's.

Research and Education

• Assists REOC management in the oversight of research activities to include production, maintenance, collection, and collating of resources.
• Responsible for collecting research data and/or samples for the farm manager. Assists in organizing and collating data for statistical analyses and interpretation.
• Observes and records appropriate data and checks for completeness and accuracy in support of research projects. Prepares data for input in computer and assists in the processing of information generated from analyses.
• Maintains all required records, reports, statistics, etc. as mandated by Federal or State Laws and/or institutional policies and procedures.
• Maintains established departmental policies, procedures, objectives, and quality assurance, safety, and environmental controls.
• Assists PI's in the development and evaluation of new analytical procedures and techniques.
• Performs data collection in field research plots to include measuring, harvesting, weighing, and preparing for storage of plant materials. Assists researchers in laying out replicated plots or replicated animal treatment groups. R