Postdoctoral Research Associate

Available Title(s):

306-YN_FACULTY - Postdoctoral Research Associate

Business Title:

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Employee Type:

Faculty (+) (Fixed Term)

Time Type:

Full time

Position Term:

12 Month

Position Details:

Summary of Duties:

The Washington State University Small Fruit Horticulture program is recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate to conduct plant physiological research on freeze tolerance and mitigation in caneberry (i.e., blackberry and red raspberry). The position is fully funded for two years through the Washington State Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant program. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will join a collaborative project team that will: 1) Develop and release predictive cold hardiness models for several cultivars of blackberry; 2) Investigate automated sensing systems complimentary to manual dissection of buds to assess freeze damage in blackberry and raspberry; and 3) Investigate methods to reduce freeze damage in raspberry and blackberry. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will focus on overseeing and collecting laboratory and field data across several cultivars of blackberry that will be used to generate predictive cold hardiness models in collaboration with a statistician. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will also lead assessment of automative sensing systems to assess freeze damage in caneberry buds, which will increase the efficiency of scoring for freeze injury. Lastly, the Postdoctoral Research Associate will assist in deploying treatments in fields that have the potential to mitigate freeze damage and rate the effectiveness of these treatments. There is the opportunity to present project results to growers as well as plant scientists at the annual Washington Small Fruit and American Society for Horticultural Science conferences. General duties will include: 1) Project data collection; 2) Statistical analysis; 3) Communication (i.e., meeting and collaborating with a project statistician, conference presentations, preparation of project reports and peer-reviewed publications); 4) Management of field and laboratory activities; 5) Supervision of timeslip; and 6) Other.

Data Collection | 35%

Collect data on freeze injury at different time periods and when subjected to different freeze mitigation treatments; collect data to assess the effectiveness of automated sensory systems that have the potential to improve the throughput of freeze injury assessment relative to manual dissection.

Statistical Analysis | 20%

Analyze data resulting from field and laboratory experiments using appropriate statistical techniques; collaborate with a statistician on data analysis and model development for a web-based tool that will be available to growers at the end of the project period; prepare data for dissemination to stakeholders and via peer-reviewed publications.

Communication | 30%

Write reports and peer-reviewed publications; meet and collaborate with a statistician involved in the project on cold hardiness model development; coordinate with on-farm grower cooperators, industry specialists, and staff within the Small Fruit Horticulture lab; participate in extension of project information to stakeholders at the Washington Small Fruit Conference and at other events as appropriate (i.e., American Society for Horticultural Science annual conference).

Manage Field and Lab Activities | 5%

Manage field and lab activities to