Open until filled:

A postdoctoral position is available in Akito Kawahara’s lab at University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History (in collaboration with the Biology Department and Department of Entomology and Nematology) in Gainesville, Florida.

The Kawahara Lab at Florida Museum of Natural History (in collaboration with the Biology Department and Department of Entomology and Nematology) at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, is currently seeking a postdoctoral fellow to conduct evolutionary genomics research on butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Specifically, the candidate will assemble and annotate short and long-read genomes and conduct comparative analyses of sensory gene-family evolution (vision, auditory, olfaction, etc.). The project is for 2 years with additional years possible depending on progress.

Minimum qualifications: 1) A Ph.D. in genomics and or transcriptomics, 2) experience with computer programming/scripting in Perl/Python/R etc., 3) familiarity with high-performance clusters and bioinformatics pipelines, 4) strong ability to write and communicate in English. An interest in insects is desired, but not required.

Salary: $52,000 plus fringe benefits.

Start date: Immediately until filled.

Duration: 2 years (possibly additional years depending on funding).

How to apply: To ensure full consideration please send a single pdf containing: 1) a cover letter (explaining your background and fit for this position), CV, and list of 3 qualified references, to Akito Kawahara at kawahara@flmnh.ufl.edu with the email subject line: Postdoc KawaharaLab. Applications that do not follow this format may
not be considered. Any questions can be addressed to Akito Kawahara at
the email above.

A post-doctoral position at the USDA-ARS-CMAVE lab (administered in collaboration with the Entomology and Nematology Dept., University of Florida) is available immediately requiring a Ph.D. degree and experience in one or more fields of molecular entomology, molecular biology, genetics, genomics and entomology.

Funding is initially available for two-years with the possibility of extension.

The relevant research projects center on the creation of genetically-modified tephritid and drosophilid fruit fly strains for conditional sex-specific selection and male sterility to improve population control programs, and analysis and mitigation of genetic breakdown of conditional lethal insect strains.

The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to ongoing research while developing an independent research program having common objectives.

These projects are funded by the USDA-NIFA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Program and contribute to ongoing collaborative FAO/IAEA Coordinated Research Projects.

Preferred qualifications: Theoretical knowledge and bench experience in insect molecular biological methodologies that include CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing, eucaryotic gene-transfer (e.g. germ-line transformation), RNAi, molecular cloning, PCR and RT-qPCR.

Salary: Commensurate with qualifications, experience and UF guidelines

Location:
Handler Laboratory
Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research Unit
USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology
1700 SW 23rd Drive, Gainesville, Florida

Contact: Contact or send CV describing research background and references to Dr. Alfred Handler: ahandler@ufl.edu