[ES_JOBS_NET] Postdoc position @ UArizona (new) - on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and soil C

[Meredith, Laura - (laurameredith)]

Are you interested in soil volatile carbon, where it comes from, and how microbes transform it into organic matter? Join our collaborative team to address this question!

Apply: https://arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/4/home/requisition/14785?c=arizona

Contact: laurameredith at arizona.edu

The School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona (UA) seeks a postdoctoral researcher to work on a new project funded by the Department of Energy on how trace volatile organic compounds (VOCs), produced by microbial, plant, and abiotic processes, mediate below ground plant and microbial interactions by extending the rhizosphere and enhance soil carbon storage.

The postdoc will help with field and lab experiments to determine how plant productivity, root biomass, and plant growth stages influence soil carbon through VOC-mediated processes in an agroecosystem of the bioenergy crop sorghum. Specifically, soil VOC concentrations will be measured using novel automated soil gas probes connected to an online proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) to track changes in soil VOC interactions directly in the rhizosphere of different variants of sorghum with their traits measured overhead by a gantry ‘scanalyzer’ at the Maricopa Agricultural Center (MAC; https://mac.arizona.edu/). The postdoc will also contribute to field work at the Blodgett Forest Research Station (https://forests.berkeley.edu/forests/blodgett) in California to help determine the impact of deep soil warming on soil carbon in the coniferous forest. The postdoc scholar will deploy, operate, and maintain VOC meausrements at the MAC site and UArizona labs and they will enhance identification with gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer systems. The specific expected outcome of this work will be new understanding of the role of VOCs in soil C cycling and stabilization and in soil ecological and metabolic interactions.

The position will be based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona and the postdoc will join an interdisciplinary team from UA, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and Aerodyne Research, Inc. The postdoctoral candidate’s development will be facilitated through integrative interactions, constructive assessment, and support by all institutions on the project. The postdoc will actively participate in research, management, and communication activities, and will be encouraged to engage in research across institution representing university, national lab, and industry settings. Additional postdoc activities organized within the project include instrument calibration, maintenance, and configuration of experiments, data analysis, talks, preparation of publications, and project meetings.


Outstanding UA benefits include health, dental, vision, and life insurance; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; UA/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; access to UA recreation and cultural activities; and more!


The University of Arizona has been recognized for our innovative work-life programs. For more information about working at the University of Arizona and relocations services, please click here<http://talent.arizona.edu/>.

Duties & Responsibilities

  *   Determine the impact of plant productivity, root biomass, and plant growth stages on soil carbon in an agro-ecosystem by leading the deployment and operation of online field subsurface VOC measurements.
  *   Lead data processing of soil, microbial, and plant microbial VOC emissions and uptake alongside environmental variables. Lead or collaborate on the integration of plant, soil, and microbial characterization using multi-omics techniques with VOC measurements.
  *   Contribute to the determination of how deep soil warming influences soil carbon in a coniferous forest using field subsurface VOC measurements.
  *   Participate in PTR-TOF-MS and GC-PTR-TOF-MS calibration, maintenance, and preparing and running samples. Construct custom automated VOC sampling systems using our established systems and help develop new systems.




Laura K Meredith

Assistant Professor, The University of Arizona

School of Natural Resources and the Environment

ENR2 Bldg., 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ 85721

Office: N225, Phone: 520 621 1052

BIO5 Institute

Keating Bldg., 1657 E. Helen Street, Tucson, AZ 85721

Office: 203, Lab: 202, Phone: 520 626 4213

laurameredith at arizona.edu<mailto:laurameredith at arizona.edu>

http://www.laurameredith.com/


Pronouns: she/her/hers
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