Postdoctoral Research Associate - Plant-Soil Interactions and Coastal Biogeochemistry

We need to output HTML fragment with sections: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. Only include sections that have real specific content. We must not repeat job title. Remove boilerplate, navigation, legal, EEO, etc. Must preserve all substantive info. We need to parse the posting. Key content: Overview: The Plant-Soil Interactions Group ... seeks a postdoctoral researcher in Coastal Biogeochemistry. This researcher will use field observations and laboratory mesocosms to investigate how plant traits and soil properties confer resilience or vulnerability to disturbance in coastal wetlands. Research activities will evaluate how belowground plant traits and soil properties vary across inundation and salinity gradients in Gulf Coast wetlands. Potential areas of focus include belowground root traits, plant-microbe-soil interactions, physical and chemical soil properties, and organo-mineral associations. This candidate will directly support the Exploring Gulf Region Ecosystem Transitions (EGRET) project, an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration focused on disturbance-driven ecosystem transitions and their impacts across the U.S. Gulf Coast. EGRET employs an integrated model–experiment (ModEx) approach accelerated by artificial intelligence (AI) to advance predictive understanding of how plant–microbial–soil interactions vary across inundation and salinity gradients to shape ecological, hydrological, and geomorphological responses to abrupt disturbance. A cohort of postdoctoral researchers will be hired across multiple institutions to collaboratively support scientific advances guided by AI/ML, remote sensing, process-based modeling, field observations and experiments, and advanced analytical techniques. Major Duties/Responsibilities: list of duties. Basic Qualifications: list. Preferred Qualifications: list. Special Requirements: includes PhD time limit, appointment length up to 24 months, letters of reference, instructions to upload docs, Real ID, PIV card, background check, foreign national residency requirement. About ORNL: description of ORNL, benefits list. Other: position open min 5 days, file types, etc. Those are boilerplate/application instructions; we should remove application instructions, duplicated lines, cookie/navigation/legal/EEO etc. Also remove "Special Requirements" maybe considered part of Requirements? But we need to include substantive info like appointment length, PhD time limit, letters of reference, Real ID, PIV, background check, foreign national residency. Those are requirements. So we can incorporate them into Requirements or Qualifications sections. Benefits: ORNL offers competitive pay and benefits programs; list of benefits: medical and retirement plans, flexible work hours, on-site fitness, banking, cafeteria, prescription drug plan, dental, vision, 401(k), contributory pension, life insurance, disability benefits, generous vacation and holidays, parental leave, legal insurance with identity theft protection, employee assistance plan, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, wellness programs, educational assistance, relocation assistance, employee discounts. Also mention competitive pay but no specific numbers. Since we should not create Pay section unless posting actually states them. It says "ORNL offers competitive pay and benefits programs". No specific pay figure. So we should not create Pay section because no specific pay. Benefits section we can include because they list benefits. Schedule: Not mentioned explicitly; maybe flexible work hours mentioned under benefits. But schedule not given. So we should not create Schedule section unless stated. Thus sections we can have: - About the role (overview) - Responsibilities (Major Duties/Responsibilities) - Requirements (Basic Qualifications + Special Requirements maybe) - Qualifications (Preferred Qualifications) - Benefits (list) We could also have Skills? Not explicitly separate; but we could incorporate skills into Qualifications. The instruction says use headings for section headings e.g. About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We should only include those with real content. So we will include About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Benefits. Not Skills, Pay, Schedule. We must not repeat job title as heading. So no heading for the title. We need to use

for section headings. Use

• for any list of duties/requirements/benefits, and

  for prose. We need to preserve all substantive information; do not invent or summarize away detail. So we need to keep details like specific equipment, etc. We need to remove boilerplate: cookie/navigation/legal/EEO/equal-opportunity/scam-warning boilerplate, duplicated lines, application instructions. So we need to strip lines like "This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired. We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment. If you have trouble applying for a position, please email ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov. ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply. UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer." Also remove "Special Requirements" maybe we incorporate into Requirements but we need to keep the content: PhD time limit, appointment length up to 24 months, letters of reference, instructions to upload docs (maybe we can keep that as part of Requirements? It's procedural but still substantive). However instructions to upload docs is application instruction; we should remove that. The instruction says remove application instructions. So we should remove the "Instructions to upload documents to your candidate profile:" part. Also remove "Letters of Reference: Please submit three letters of reference when applying to this position. You may upload these directly to your application or have them sent to Postdocrecruitment@ornl.gov with the position title and number referenced in the subject line." That's also application instruction. So remove that. Also remove "For employment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a Real ID compliant form of identification will be required. Additionally, ORNL is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. All employees must also be able to obtain and maintain a federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) and Department of Energy (DOE) Order 473.1A, which requires a favorable post-employment background investigation. To obtain this credential, new employees must successfully complete and pass a Federal Tier 1 background check investigation. This investigation includes a declaration of illegal drug activities, including use, supply, possession, or manufacture within the last year. This includes marijuana and cannabis derivatives, which are still considered illegal under federal law, regardless of state laws. For Foreign National Candidates If you have not resided in the U.S. for three consecutive years, you are not eligible for the PIV credential and instead will need to obtain a favorable Local Site Specific Only (LSSO) risk determination to maintain employment. Once you meet the three-year residency requirement, you will be required to obtain a PIV credential to maintain employment." That is substantive (requirements for employment). Should we keep? It's not exactly a qualification but a requirement for employment. Could be placed under Requirements. We'll keep the content but maybe condense? We must not summarize away detail; we need to preserve all substantive information. So we need to keep the details: Real ID compliant ID, PIV card, background check, foreign national residency requirement. We'll keep as list items. Also remove "About ORNL" description? That's substantive about the organization; maybe we can include under About the role? But we already have About the role section for overview of the role. The "About ORNL" is more about the lab; could be included as part of About the role or maybe a separate section? The instruction only lists certain headings; we could put ORNL description under About the role as prose. But we already have overview; we could add a paragraph about ORNL after overview. That's okay. We must not duplicate lines. Ensure we don't repeat same content. Now let's extract content. Overview paragraph(s): "The Plant-Soil Interactions Group within the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) seeks a postdoctoral researcher in Coastal Biogeochemistry. This researcher will use field observations and laboratory mesocosms to investigate how plant traits and soil properties confer resilience or vulnerability to disturbance in coastal wetlands. Research activities will evaluate how belowground plant traits and soil properties vary across inundation and salinity gradients in Gulf Coast wetlands. Potential areas of focus include belowground root traits, plant-microbe-soil interactions, physical and chemical soil properties, and organo-mineral associations. This candidate will directly support the Exploring Gulf Region Ecosystem Transitions (EGRET) project, an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration focused on disturbance-driven ecosystem transitions and their impacts across the U.S. Gulf Coast. EGRET employs an integrated model–experiment (ModEx) approach accelerated by artificial intelligence (AI) to advance predictive understanding of how plant–microbial–soil interactions vary across inundation and salinity gradients to shape ecological, hydrological, and geomorphological responses to abrupt disturbance. A cohort of postdoctoral researchers will be hired across multiple institutions to collaboratively support scientific advances guided by AI/ML, remote sensing, process-based modeling, field observations and experiments, and advanced analytical techniques." That's the overview. Now Responsibilities (Major Duties/Responsibilities): List: - Independently and collaboratively lead field campaigns to collect plant material, soil cores, and soil water from coastal wetlands. - Lead a laboratory mesocosm experiment evaluating plant-soil response to simulated disturbance, linking repeated high-throughput phenotyping at ORNL's Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory (APPL) with paired geochemical and microbial measurements. - Utilize laboratory equipment and software that may include a Picarro gas concentration analyzer (G2508), Rhizovision Explorer, Shimadzu TOC-L, ICP-MS/OES, and Aqualog for EEMS/UV-VIS. - Work closely with modelers and empiricists across multiple disciplines to address project objectives. - Present results within the research group and at national and international conferences, and publish manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. - Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Now Requirements (Basic Qualifications + Special Requirements (excluding application instructions)): Basic Qualifications: - A PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ecology, Biosciences, Botany, Geosciences, or a related field with a strong focus on plant-soil interactions and/or biogeochemical processes, completed within the last 5 years or expected to be completed soon. - A strong record of independent and productive research, as indicated by conference presentations and/or publications in peer-reviewed journals. - Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a large multidisciplinary team. - Proven ability to design and implement experiments, perform data analyses, and interpret experimental results. - Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills. Special Requirements (retain substantive): - Applicants cannot have received their Ph.D. more than five years prior to the date of application and must complete all degree requirements before starting their appointment. - The appointment length will be up to 24 months with the potential for extension. Initial appointments and extensions are subject to performance and availability of funding. - For employment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a Real ID compliant form of identification will be required. - ORNL is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. - All employees must also be able to obtain and maintain a federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) and Department of Energy (DOE) Order 473.1A, which requires a favorable post-employment background investigation. - To obtain this credential, new employees must successfully complete and pass a Federal Tier 1 background check investigation. This investigation includes a declaration of illegal drug activities, including use, supply, possession, or manufacture within the last year. This includes marijuana and cannabis derivatives, which are still considered illegal