USDA-ARS Postdoctoral Research Fellow

About the Research Project

This research project focuses on the discovery and characterization of novel pathogens affecting managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies across Illinois. This will be done alongside comprehensive surveillance of known pathogens circulating at local and regional apiaries. An important component of this opportunity is the characterization of honey bee viromes through Next Generation Sequencing technologies (NGS) to uncover previously undescribed viral and other microbial threats to bee health. This unique opportunity combines molecular laboratory methods with collaborative field surveillance to advance the understanding of honey bee disease epidemiology and inform strategies for colony protection in Illinois. You will help evaluate microbial-derived compounds for biological activity against honey bee pathogens and Varroa mites, aiming to identify novel candidates for sustainable colony protection. You will be involved in statewide monitoring efforts in close collaboration with Illinois State Apiary inspectors and local beekeeping operations to detect, identify, and characterize pathogens affecting managed honey bee colonies.

Fellowship Activities

• Collecting adult bee, brood, and hive samples
• Identifying and characterizing bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens
• Discovering and describing novel and uncharacterized pathogens
• Confirming and characterizing novel agents
• Evaluating candidate biocontrol compounds
• Assessing pathogen impacts on colony health indicators

Learning Objectives

Under the guidance of a mentor, you will have the opportunity to learn to:

• Design and conduct field surveillance studies in collaboration with state apiary inspectors and beekeeping partners
• Apply molecular and sequencing-based methods (qPCR, Sanger sequencing, NGS metagenomics) to detect, quantify, and characterize known and novel honey bee pathogens
• Apply classical microbiological techniques to isolate and characterize bacterial and fungal pathogens
• Gain experience designing and running bioassays to evaluate candidate compounds against honey bee pathogens and Varroa mites
• Evaluate the impact of pathogen infection, including newly discovered agents, on bee physiology and colony health
• Analyze complex biological datasets and communicate findings through presentations and peer-reviewed manuscripts

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields.

Preferred Skills

• Hands-on experience with insects/arthropod field collection and laboratory techniques
• Experience with honey bees or other managed or wild bee species, including apicultural practices
• Interest in or experience with bioassay methods, antimicrobial screening, or biocontrol research involving microbial-derived compounds is advantageous
• Familiarity with molecular biology techniques, including DNA/RNA extraction, PCR and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), RNAi. Prior hands-on experience is a plus
• Experience with metagenomic approaches (shotgun sequencing and amplicon sequencing)
• Familiarity with statistical analysis or bioinformatic software (R, Python, QIIME2, BLAST-based workflows, etc.)
• Scientific writing (i.e. thesis chapters, manuscripts)

Pay

$74,678.00 yearly

Schedule

The appointment is full time. The anticipated appointment start date is October 2026, with a flexible start date depending on various 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.