Plant Disease Research Assistant — Field & Lab

The Pennsylvania State University; Ferguson Township (PA); On-site; USD 19,000 - 30,000; Part time

Job summary

The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA, invites applications for part-time Research Assistant positions in the Esker Lab within the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology. These roles support laboratory and fieldwork for plant disease epidemiology focused on corn, soybeans and wheat.

Duties include fungal culture preparation, microbiological culturing, DNA extraction, sample collection from field and greenhouse experiments, and data entry.

Qualifications

• Typical duties include laboratory and fieldwork support.
• Involves handling fungal cultures and DNA extraction.

Responsibilities

• Fungal culture media preparation
• Microbiological culturing and isolation of soil and seed-borne fungal pathogens
• Enumeration of fungal colonies
• Selection of pure cultures for long-term preservation
• Microscopic evaluation and identification of fungal cultures
• Assist with laboratory assays and fungicide sensitivity studies
• Assist with DNA extraction and quality checks
• Collect soil and plant samples from field and greenhouse experiments
• Perform germination tests for corn, soybean and wheat
• Assess plant diseases from field, greenhouse or growth chamber studies
• Data entry of field and laboratory experiments

Job description

The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA, invites applications for part-time Research Assistant positions in the Esker Lab within the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology. These roles support laboratory and fieldwork for plant disease epidemiology focused on corn, soybeans and wheat.

Duties include fungal culture preparation, microbiological culturing, DNA extraction, sample collection from field and greenhouse experiments, and data entry.