Postdoctoral Fellow (BioDesign Group - Joint Genome Institute)

About the role

The Joint Genome Institute (JGI) at the Berkeley Lab’s (LBNL) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to develop a high-throughput platform for discovering and screening Critical Minerals and Materials (CMMs) transporters. This role involves functional screening of large transporter libraries across multiple metals, aiming to advance transporter discovery and engineering for domestic CMM recovery.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with project team members to design, develop, and validate a high-throughput sequencing-based platform for screening metal transporters.
• Apply the platform to large-scale transporter discovery by performing gene mining, constructing and screening transporter libraries, engineering microbial hosts, and analyzing pooled sequencing data to identify transporter function.
• Interpret and present research findings at group meetings and project team discussions.
• Maintain accurate laboratory records and manage project resources, including vectors, strains, and digital datasets.
• Organize results for publications and presentations shared with JGI staff, collaborators, and the broader scientific community.
• Communicate research progress and contribute effectively within a multidisciplinary team.
• Disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national conferences.

Requirements

• A recent Ph.D. (within the last 1-2 years) in Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Synthetic Biology or a related field.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience in bacterial genetics, molecular cloning, plasmid design, and strain engineering.
• Working knowledge of bioinformatics principles and sequencing analysis.
• Strong organizational skills including experience maintaining detailed and accurate records of results and analyzed data.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills including experience presenting at group meetings and conferences, and publishing research findings.
• Demonstrated interpersonal communication skills including experience conducting independent, data-driven research and collaborating with an interdisciplinary research team.

Desired Skills/Knowledge

• Experience with gene circuits or metal biology.
• Documented knowledge of high throughput method design and/or barcode-based screening.