USDA-ARS Postdoctoral Fellowship on Genetic improvement of Sugar Beet Resistance to Disease and Abiotic Stresses

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Northwest Irrigation & Soils Research Lab (NWISRL) located in Kimberly, Idaho.

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. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

About the role

The sugar beet research program at the NWISRL develops genetic resources to help improve resistance to disease and abiotic stress. The research project will focus on the evaluation of diverse germplasm, with special interest in responses to the beet curly top virus, Rhizomania disease, as well as early seedling freezing tolerance. As part of this project, you will have the opportunity to characterize diverse accessions of cultivated and wild sugar beet through multifaceted, modern techniques (genomic, expression analyses, proteomics, metabolomics, etc.). This project aims to use these techniques to understand stress response and resistance mechanisms and identify valuable accessions and genetic haplotypes for future breeding and genetic interventions.

This mentorship opportunity offers research training in plant genomics and breeding techniques, plant pathology, bioinformatics, as well as the statistical analysis of collected data. You will also improve science communication experience through drafting and publishing scientific manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, as well as presenting research at scientific conferences.

Learning Objectives

• Learn to evaluate diverse sugar beet germplasm for resistance to beet curly top virus, Rhizomania disease, and early seedling freezing stress.
• Develop skills in genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic techniques to characterize cultivated and wild accessions.
• Build knowledge in plant stress-response and resistance mechanisms and how these inform breeding and genetic-improvement strategies.
• Gain hands-on experience in plant genomics, plant pathology, bioinformatics, and statistical data analysis within an applied agricultural research context.
• Build proficiency in scientific communication, including drafting manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals and presenting research at scientific conferences.

Requirements

• The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a doctoral degree in a relevant field. Degree must have been received within the past five years or anticipated to be received by January 4, 2027.
• It is desired that the candidate have academic experience in agricultural science with at least some previous experience performing research in one of the following settings: greenhouse/field experiments, molecular/benchtop analyses, and bioinformatic analyses.
• This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.

Benefits

• Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE, or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.
• Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Pay

The participant will receive a monthly stipend ranging from $5,500 to $6,300, commensurate with educational level and experience.

Schedule

• Anticipated appointment start date: January 4, 2027. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.
• The appointment will initially be for one year but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.
• The appointment is full-time.

Mentor: Evan Long (Evan.Long@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor.