"Senior Research Associate in Freshwater Environmental Genetics"

Location:	Bristol
Salary:	£43,482 to £50,253 per annum, Grade: J
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Permanent

Placed On: 13th November 2025

Closes: 1st December 2025

Job Ref: ACAD108349

The role

We are seeking a Senior Research Associate in Environmental Genetics to join a multidisciplinary consortium working on the UKRI REFRESH project, Researching the role of dissolved organic matter as a nutrient resource in freshwater ecosystems.This offers an exciting prospect for you to develop understanding of how biota access and respond to dissolved organic matter in freshwaters, and its role in driving ecosystem health.

You will have prior research experience in aquatic ecology and molecular genetics and will develop skills in environmental DNA/RNA analysis, including bioinformatic and statistical analyses of experimental data. You will contribute to field mesocosm and stream dosing experiments, unravelling how autotrophic and heterotrophic species respond to availability and composition of dissolved organic matter pools. You will work closely with biogeochemists to learn how organic nutrient enrichment drives community-level responses. If you are a passionate researcher eager to push boundaries of environmental science and find solutions to ecosystem decline in freshwaters, this role is for you.

What will you be doing?

You will collaborate with the principal investigator and co-investigator teams at the University of Bristol, Bangor University and UKCEH to:

• implement and analyse experiments in freshwater mesocosms, at a series of sites across the UK, to evaluate how dissolved organic matter of varying character is accessed and utilised by organisms
• develop and apply molecular genetic analyses, focussed on eDNA and eRNA, to investigate how riverine dissolved organic matter is processed through food webs
• integrate analytical results into a broader framework, working with biogeochemists, to understand functional biotic responses to dissolved organic matter compounds under contrasting environmental conditions
• lead writing and publication of journal articles reporting outcomes from the molecular genetics aspects of the programme, in collaboration other REFRESH team members
• collaborate with the research team on multidisciplinary publications

You should apply if

You have a degree in a relevant subject (environmental genetics, environmental biology, ecology or related), and PhD that has provided you with skills in acquisition and analyses of environmental genetic data (sampling, laboratory analyses, bioinformatic analyses). You will have postdoctoral experience in molecular genetic research using advanced analytical techniques, including qPCR and metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and/or metabarcoding. Experience in data analysis using R is required, and you would ideally have experience of experimentally-focussed research. We aim to publish research findings in high impact journals, so you should use clear and concise writing, and be keen to publish. We seek an excellent communicator with strong interpersonal and teamwork skills for collaboration within a large project team (3 SRAs, 2 Specialist Technicians, 3 PhD students, 8 PI/Co-Is), across disciplines and three institutions. An ability to work flexibly is key, as described in the full job description.

Additional information

For informal enquiries please contact Professor Penny Johnes, Professor of Biogeochemistry, penny.johnes@bristol.ac.uk