"Research Associate II (Oyster Aquaculture)"

Job Description

Research Associate II (Oyster Aquaculture)

Posting Number: SF02070

Position Type: Professional Staff

Union: PSA/NEA - Professional Staff Assoc

Pay Grade Level: Grade Level: 9

Pay Grade Range: Anticipated Hiring Salary: $55,127

Department: Biological Sciences

Campus Location:

Job Description Summary:

About URI: The University of Rhode Island enrolls approximately 17,000 students across its graduate and undergraduate programs and is the State's flagship public research university, as well as the land grant and sea grant university, for the state of Rhode Island. The main campus is located in the historic village of Kingston, and the Bay Campus is located in Narragansett. Both campuses are near major beaches in a beautiful coastal community. URI is just 30 minutes from Providence, RI and within easy reach of Newport, Boston, and New York City.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A HYBRID WORK SCHEDULE IS POSSIBLE AFTER SIX MONTHS.

POSITION SUMMARY: Working in the USDA ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center and the Marine Evolutionary Ecology Laboratory at URI, in a position funded by a Cooperative agreement, the Research Associate II will contribute to the USDA ARS Regional Northeast eastern oyster genetic improvement program and associated research projects benefiting the oyster aquaculture industry.

Duties and Responsibilities: KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Perform important independent research work under the occasional review of the Principal Investigator. Lead the implementation and operation of flow through, quarantined seawater systems for oyster maintaining experimental oysters in the laboratory setting. Lead the collection, organization, and QC of eastern performance data (growth, survival, disease acquisition, shell shape) for thousands of experimental oysters deployed at three oyster farms throughout New England. Implement high throughput methods for data collection using P4 software. Lead the maintenance of and collection/curation of environmental data from loggers deployed at multiple field sites. Calibrate loggers with Kor software and conduct preliminary data analysis in WQDataLive. Perform complex experiments, including large-scale oyster disease challenges, to assess levels of variation in disease resistance within eastern oyster breeding populations. These experiments require expertise in oyster husbandry, cell culture (for pathogen) and complex molecular biology-based assays for quantifying disease levels in oysters exposed to disease in the laboratory and in the field. Disease diagnostic tests require experience in DNA extraction and quantitation, PCR primer design, and the development/optimization of quantitative PCR assays. These duties will be executed by the incumbent with occasional review of Principal Investigator.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Prepare formal reports of completed work. Present work to stakeholders and other interested parties. Train and supervise graduate students and undergraduate interns to perform routine laboratory procedures. Maintain technical equipment and devices. Develop and follow safety protocols for specific research activities. Perform other duties as required.

LICENSES, TOOLS, AND EQUIPMENT: Personal computers, printers and word processing, database management and spreadsheet software, R software for data analysis and visualization. Flow through and static seawater systems, aquaculture gear, environmental data sondes, calipers, laboratory equipment including pipettes, centrifuges, incubators, microscopes, balances, pH meters, autoclaves, DNA quantitation apparatus (nanodrop, qubit, tape station), traditional and quantitative PCR machines.

The University of Rhode Island is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the University of Rhode Island to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with a disability.

Posting Date: 10/03/2025

To apply, visit https://jobs.uri.edu/postings/15775