USDA-ARS Fire Ant Behavior and Chemical Ecology - Post-Bachelor Research Opportunity

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located in Gainesville, FL. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table.

About the Role

This hands-on research opportunity blends biology and chemistry to solve practical and basic problems associated with understanding and control of imported fire ants and other pest ants. This appointment will involve ongoing and future research and development to better understand the behavior and chemical ecology of fire ants, ultimately developing novel control methods.

Responsibilities

• Learn how to collect pest ants from the field and maintain pest ant colonies under laboratory conditions.
• Understand how to develop new bioassays and conduct established bioassays for a wide variety of purposes.
• Learn Good Practices and understand the analyses of collected data.
• Learn new techniques and interact with experts in the field of chemical ecology.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a bachelor's degree in one of the relevant fields (e.g. Entomology, Zoology, Biology, or Animal Behavior). Degree must have been received within the past 5 years.

Skills

• Open to learning new analytical methods and development of specific bioassays as needed.
• Knowledge of statistics.
• Experience in graphical display of experimental data.
• Experience doing fieldwork.

Schedule

The appointment is full time. The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds. Anticipated start date is October 2026, with flexibility depending on various factors.

Pay

The participant will receive a monthly stipend of $3,443.00.

Eligibility Requirements

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only.
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree in Life Health and Medical Sciences (e.g., Animal Behavior, Biology, Entomology, Zoology).
• Veteran Status: Veterans Preference, degree received within the last 120 months.

Mentor: Robert Vander Meer (bob.vandermeer@usda.gov). For questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor.