The Department of Crop and Soil Sciences encompasses a broad range of disciplines in research, extension, and teaching. The department’s mission is to develop future leaders in crop, soil, and environmental sciences, improve crop plants and products, devise effective and sustainable crop production systems, devise effective and sustainable soil management techniques in both agriculture and urban settings; and disseminate crop, soil, and environmental science knowledge for the benefit of users and producers of food, feed turf, biofuels and fiber in North Carolina, the nation and the world.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• We seek an exceptional postdoctoral research associate to conduct research in the areas of soil microbiology and symbioses between microbes.
• This project will focus on understanding the roles of ultrasmall prokaryotes from the Patescibacteria superphylum in soil.
• Additional potential projects include assessments of the functions of bacterial endosymbionts of fungi in soil ecosystems.
• The project will include characterizations of soil microbes through high-throughput isolation of bacteria and fungi, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics.
• The postdoctoral associate will lead laboratory and data analysis efforts, and work will consist of wet lab, computational, and field components.

Opportunities exist to interact closely with collaborators at NC State University and in the National Laboratory system.

Other Work/Responsibilities:

In addition to laboratory studies, activities will include bioinformatics analyses including the analysis of multi-omics data including genomics, metagenomics, and transcriptomics data. Additional duties will include mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students. Finally, the postdoctoral associate will be expected to lead the drafting of manuscripts, proposals, and presentations for national conferences.

Work Schedule:

Monday - Friday, 8 am - 5 pm

Department Required Skills:

• General knowledge of soil and environmental science.
• Ability to clearly and concisely present scientific data both orally and in writing.
• Ability to design experiments, conduct independent research, and lead the preparation of manuscripts.

Preferred Years Experience, Skills, Training, Education:

• The ideal candidate would have experience in studying interactions between microbes in soil or plant systems.
• The ideal candidate will also have experience using bioinformatics tools in high-performance computing environments.
• A strong publication record is highly desirable.

Required License or Certification:

n/a

Valid NC Driver's License required?:

No

Commercial Driver's License Required?:

No

Anticipated Hiring Range:

commensurate with experience ($59,000)

Job Open Date:

05/12/2026