Seasonal Employee Hourly

Title: Seasonal Employee Hourly

Department Org: Environmental Sciences - 101250

Employee Classification: H6 - Intermittent - Seasonal Hourly

Bargaining Unit: Bargaining Unit Exempt

Primary Location: MC AC

Shift:  1

Start Time:     End Time:  

Posted Salary: 26.00/hour

Float: {bOther1}

Rotate: {bOther2}

On Call: {bOther3}

Travel: {bOther4}

Weekend/Holiday: {bOther5}

Job Description:

The University of Toledo’s Department of Environmental Sciences seeks a Laboratory Research Analyst who will assist with porewater sample processing and analysis, as well as supporting laboratory operations, for a large multi-institution project studying hydrological and redox controls on biogeochemical transformations within coastal terrestrial and aquatic interfaces (TAIs). Coastal TAIs are complex systems characterized by a high degree of spatial and temporal heterogeneity in biogeochemical cycling often described as hot spots and hot moments. Much of the complexity is due to plant-microbe interactions that mediate the soil redox environment. The focus of this research is to advance our process-level understanding of plant-water-microbe interactions that generate spatiotemporal variation across upland-to-wetland gradients.

This position is part of the DOE funded project – Coastal Observation, Mechanism, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales - Field Measurements and Experiments (COMPASS-FME). This large project is led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with multiple partners, including the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and Argonne National Lab. The COMPASS - FME project aims to understand the coupled interactions of plants, microbes, soils/sediments, and hydrology within coastal systems to inform multi- scale, integrated models from reaction scales to the coastal interface. The project’s research emphasis is primarily on terrestrial and wetland processes that are influenced by coastal waters, such as the fluxes and transformations of carbon, nutrients, and redox elements through these systems. This project includes several national labs, and research institutions in the W. Basin of Lake Erie and Chesapeake Bay, affording the successful candidate the opportunity for exciting and diverse collaborations. There will be opportunities for close collaboration with project partners and scientists at PNNL, LNLL, Heidelberg University and The University of Toledo.

This analyst will be based at U. Toledo, working on both Main Campus and at the Lake Erie Center. This position will assist team members in processing project water samples collected from the COMPASS Lake Erie research sites and determining the concentrations of nutrients and other mineral and organic solutes in these samples. This will be done using analytical infrastructure including but not limited to a discrete analyzer, gas chromatograph and total carbon and nitrogen analyzers at the Lake Erie Center. In addition, the technician will perform colorimetric assays to determine the concentration of total reduced sugars in porewater samples which will be used to connect the belowground biogeochemistry with plant activity and greenhouse gas fluxes. The analyst will also check, maintain, and archive analytical data, and work with the COMPASS research team to assist with data review and archiving.

Contact Professor Michael Weintraub, Michael.weintraub@utoledo.edu, with questions or for more information about this position.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education/experience/licensing:

• Master’s degree in chemistry, biochemistry biology, ecology, environmental sciences, or related discipline, including:
o At least two years of experience with nutrient analysis, plant exudates, and chemistry
o At least two years of research laboratory technician
• Experience with working in a laboratory setting
• Willingness and ability to learn nutrient analysis procedures (training to be provided)
• Willingness and ability to communicate with project team members, collaborators, and students participating in the project
• Valid driver’s license with a clean driving record;
• Commitment to a safe and inclusive working environment required
• Experience with initial steps of data processing in R for basic steps of data processing

Communication and other skills:

• Effective communication skills (oral and written);
• Ability and desire to collaborate with a large multi-institutional collaborative team;
• Ability to work independently and to make decisions c