[ES_JOBS_NET] Ph.D. Assistantship in nutrient cycling, soil health, and microbial ecology of agroecosystems (Fall 2023, University of Florida)

[Maltais-Landry,Gabriel]

Ph.D. Assistantship (Fall 2023) – Nutrient cycling, soil health and soil microbial ecology in organic, regenerative and conventional agroecosystems of North Florida

The Sustainable Nutrient Management Systems lab (https://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/sustainable-nutrient-management-systems/) in the Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences (SWES) at the University of Florida is seeking a Ph.D. research assistant to join an interdisciplinary team working on nutrient cycling and soil health in organic, regenerative and conventional agroecosystems of Northern Florida, as part of a project funded by the USDA Organic Transitions program<https://cris.nifa.usda.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/24970/crisassist.txt>. The research assistant will conduct field and laboratory work to measure the effects of different management approaches in vegetable (carrots, cole crops) and row crops (peanut, corn), with a primary focus on nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycling. This Assistantship is expected to start in the Fall of 2023 and includes a twelve-month stipend, full tuition coverage, and health insurance over a four-year period.

The research assistant is expected to focus on several of the following focus areas:
- Nutrient cycling and soil fertility, including measurements of soil nutrient concentrations/rates in addition to nutrient budgets of different agroecosystems;
- Soil health, including measurements of different soil carbon and nitrogen indicators;
- Soil microbial ecology, including measurements of soil enzyme activity and soil microbiome analyses using amplicon sequencing (in collaboration with Dr. Sunny Liao in SWES);
- Other research focus areas chosen by the research assistant to develop independent research that is complementary to measurements and experiments already conducted as part of the main project.

The successful applicant will have all or some of the following:
- A strong background in soil and/or plant sciences,
- Experience conducting field work in agroecosystems, ideally sampling crops and soils,
- Experience with lab protocols related to crop nutrition, soil fertility/health, and/or soil microbial ecology,
- Experience with basic statistical analyses (regression, ANOVA), ideally in R,
- The desire to work outside in hot and humid conditions during the Florida summer.

Complete application packets are due to the SWES by January 2, 2023 (see https://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/academics/graduate-studies/apply/ for instructions) but strong applications submitted shortly after this date will also be considered. Before applying, interested applicants are encouraged to contact Dr. Gabriel Maltais-Landry (maltaislandryg at ufl.edu<mailto:maltaislandryg at ufl.edu>) directly with a CV, a one-page letter of research experience and interests, and contact information (no letters required) of three referees.

Note: SWES no longer requires GRE scores for admission, hence GRE scores will not be considered in the admission process.
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