Join the Forest Entomology team at the University of Florida (www.ambrosiasymbiosis.org or www.ambrosiasymbiosis.org/development) for a project on perfecting bark beetle sampling and sample digitization.

Details

We are looking for a team member who will help us optimize bark beetle pheromone trapping, photography pipeline, quantification, and submission to an AI classifier.  The ultimate goal is biodiversity research and invasive species detection.

We are open to applicants from various levels of education and experience, from a recent graduate to a post-doc or a technician. Both academic and non-academic applicants are welcome. Previous experience with insect sampling is appreciated but not required. What we value the most is interest in messing around with sampling technology, commitment to quantitative science, good organization and project management skills, and good writing skills. 

Training in bark beetle systematics will be provided.

Publication of at least one research paper, based on the data collected, will be required as part of this position.

Duration

This is a temporary position spanning one (1) year following hire in Spring 2024. An extension to two years is possible, depending on performance and funding availability.

Dates

• Application deadline: January 6, 2024. 
• Start: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE in Spring 2024

Salary

The salary for this position ranges from $35,000 – $50,000 depending on the level of experience. 

This position is intended to be a full-time, 40-hour-week position, but this is negotiable.

Location

This job is located on the main campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, and though remote work may be acceptable at certain times, applicants should expect to spend the majority of their week on-site. 

Applying

Please note that international applicants must have a valid US visa and be able to work in the United States. International applicants who are ALREADY approved to work in the US are welcome to apply. 

Email 1) your CV, 2) a short statement of interest, and 3) a list of your hobbies to ForestEntomology@ifas.ufl.edu with the subject line “Beetle samples 2024”.

Need to train your bark beetle identification skills? Do you want to skip character-based keys and practice your “gestalt” (identification by the overall morphology using your expertise)? Try the new app ERUDITUS, available for download on your smartphone from Apple Store and Google Play.

It is not an Artificial Intelligence-based app for beetle identification magic. It trains YOU! Your human intelligence :). The Entomology Today newsletter describes it here: https://entomologytoday.org/2020/10/07/bark-beetle-identification-app-for-that-eruditus/

Discovered relatively recently, these bark beetle-associated fungi are ubiquitous in the scolytine realm. But not where the Ophiostomatoid fungi reign. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11557-023-01880-x

Join the Forest Entomology team at the University of Florida (www.ambrosiasymbiosis.org) on our quest to understand forest insects and their evolution, ecology and systematics using cutting-edge biology methods.

This position can be focused on several topics:

• systematics and phylogenetics
• artificial intelligence (machine learning) in beetle identification
• genetics, genomics or transcriptomics of the beetles
• biodiversity information management

We appreciate previous experience with some of these fields, but it is not required. What we value the most is a commitment to rigorous science, love for numbers and data, good writing skills, and some biology nerdiness.

Dates

• Applications are due on February 20, 2022.
• Start: ideally in the Fall 2023.

Salary

The fully-funded PhD student position includes a $30,000 annual stipend, University of Florida tuition, health insurance, and research expenses (the total value of this position is over $200,000). Opportunities for international travel, conference visits and collaborations will be regularly available. International students are encouraged to apply.

Location

The main campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Gainesville is one of the best college towns in the U.S.

How to apply

Email 1) your CV, 2) a short statement of interest and 3) a list of your hobbies to hulcr@ufl.edu with subject line “Beetle data science 2023”.

The University of Florida Forest Entomology Lab is offering a postdoc position to study the molecular interactions between the insect tissue and the fungus in the ambrosia symbiosis.

We have the data; we need you to analyze them!

We have several transcriptome sequence datasets for the different tissues (fungus-free beetle, pure fungus, and the mycangium where the two unite) and we need a smart molecular biologist or bioinformatician to interpret what makes the two organisms talk. We also have a genome sequence of the beetle.

Previous experience with transcriptomics, insect of fungus molecular physiology, or other fields of bioinformatics and molecular biology will obviously be a bonus. Independent publication experience is required (the output of the project is not just the analysis, but a paper). Innovative interdisciplinary ideas about symbiosis functioning are welcome.

The position includes annual stipend of $60,000 and health insurance. The initial contract is for one year with high likelihood of extension to multiple years depending on productivity. The position is based at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Partial remote work is acceptable, but is not a complete home office; we do need the postdoc to appear in the lab at least sometimes. International applicants are welcome.

NEW Application deadline: September 15, 2022.

Start date: ideally in the fall of 2022 or early 2023.

To apply

Send an email to hulcr@ufl.edu and include 1) Cover Letter, 2) your CV, and 3) a list of hobbies and interests.

Each ambrosia fungus is different beetle food, not convergent! See our latest article in ISME: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-020-0593-7

To me, the most important take-home message from that work is that, with a robust hypothesis and experimental design, even negative results are super informative.