Postdoctoral Fellow – Mosquito Phylogenomics & Evolution

The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc.; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 53,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

Job summary

The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF) seeks a Postdoctoral Fellow to initiate and carry out research on an NSF-funded project integrating phylogenomics, morphology, and ecology of Anopheline mosquitoes.

You will lead genomic assembly, phylogenomic inference, and contribute to 3D morphometrics and environmental niche modeling. The role offers opportunities to co-lead manuscripts, collaborate across institutions, mentor students, and develop an

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree required in evolutionary biology, entomology, phylogenetics, bioinformatics, computational biology, ecology, or related field.
• Minimum of 0–5 years of experience.
• Experience with mosquito taxonomy, molecular biology, and bioinformatics.
• Experience with phylogenomic pipelines or comparative methods.
• Experience with archival or ancient DNA workflows, museum specimen digitization, or historical collections.
• Familiarity with 3D morphometrics, CT segmentation, or biomechanical modeling.
• Knowledge of species distribution modeling, GIS, or remote sensing.
• Interest or background in One-Health, vector biology, or bioinformatics.
• Experience mentoring students and contributing to an inclusive, collaborative team environment.
• Track record of first-author peer-reviewed publications appropriate to career stage.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a T1 Public Trust background check.

Responsibilities

• Lead sample preparation, DNA extraction, and library preparation from museum and contemporary specimens.
• Perform whole-genome sequencing workflows and archive material adaptations.
• Assemble genomes and recover single-copy nuclear orthologs in a reference-guided framework.
• Perform locus alignment, gene-tree and species-tree inference, and time calibration using fossil priors.
• Quantify gene-tree discordance and detect introgression.
• Delimit cryptic species and refine complex boundaries using integrated genomic evidence.
• Contribute to micro-CT scanning and downstream 3D segmentation of thoracic musculature and wing architecture.
• Compute Relative Dispersal Capacity and biomechanical traits from morphology.
• Build environmental niche hypervolumes and analyze land cover data.
• Coordinate weekly with study collaborators and travel between institutions as needed for training and specimen work.
• Lead and present multiple first-author manuscripts and contribute to integrative synthesis papers.
• Mentor graduate and undergraduate researchers on the project.
• Engage stakeholders in mosquito-surveillance and public-health entomology community.
• Demonstrate experience with high-throughput sequencing data.
• Proficiency with scripting language and HPC environments.

Skills

Genomic assembly

Phylogenomics

High-performance computing

Scripting languages

Education

PhD in evolutionary biology or related field

Tools

3D morphometrics

CT segmentation

Job description

The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF) seeks a Postdoctoral Fellow to initiate and carry out research on an NSF-funded project integrating phylogenomics, morphology, and ecology of Anopheline mosquitoes.

You will lead genomic assembly, phylogenomic inference, and contribute to 3D morphometrics and environmental niche modeling. The role offers opportunities to co-lead manuscripts, collaborate across institutions, mentor students, and develop an