Junior Specialist/Lynch lab

Position Overview:

The Forest Pathology and Plant Disease Ecology Lab at the University of California, Davis, led by Dr. Shannon Lynch, is seeking a highly motivated and qualified Junior Specialist to support forest health and active management in forest lands of California and assist with grants and agreements to state, private, tribal, and federal partners.

Position Responsibilities:

Research (85%)

The Junior Specialist will conduct the following activities:

* Provide field support for survey and monitoring of forest conditions in California to inform both broad-scale and project-level management planning. The focus of these activities it to support active management to increase forest health and resilience, reduce fuels, and support recreation. Activities include regular monitoring of invasive species with weekly or bi-weekly trap monitoring and a minimum of five field visits per year.

* Engage with partners through trainings and site visits to support cross-boundary coordination of the management and monitoring of forest insects, diseases, and invasive species (e.g. invasive plants, invasive shot hole borers, goldspotted oak borer, emerald ash borer). A minimum of two site visits or trainings per year is expected.

* Provide assistance to forest landowners on invasive plant management and pesticide use in California.

* Support project and program management for regional forestry assistance programs, including coordination across various agencies and stakeholders.

* Assist in the administration of grants and cooperative agreements with federal, state, and private entities.

* Communicate technical information to diverse audiences through presentations, strategic plans, work plans, and other written and verbal forms of communications. A minimum of one outreach or communication product is expected annually.

* Monitor forest insects, disease, and invasive plants.

* Optimize Euwallacea interjectus monitoring traps by testing lure components, concentrations, and combinations, and by analyzing seasonal flight activity to refine detection strategies.

* Establishing ISHB monitoring plots in Northern California

* Determine the host range of Euwallacea interjectus through no-choice bioassays

Professional Competence (10%)

* The incumbent will present research at statewide outreach meetings, regional plant pathology meetings, and national meetings (e.g. American Pathological Society Annual Meeting). Presentations will be delivered in poster and oral presentation formats. The incumbent will have opportunities to develop presentation abilities in laboratory meetings and the UC Davis plant pathology department retreat and other local (on-campus) events.

* The incumbent will be encouraged to have membership with the American Phytopathological Society, Pacific Division and national.

University and Public Service (5%)

* Serve as a liaison and respond to inquiries from industry organizations, government agencies, and other external stakeholders regarding areas of expertise.

* Participate in committees and collaborative activities within the department, college, campus, and other university entities, as appropriate.

* Bachelor's degree in plant pathology, ecology, environmental science, microbiology, forestry, or a related field.

* This is an entry level position reserved for graduates with Bachelor's degree and less than 2-3 years of experience.

* Demonstrated experience with ecological fieldwork, ideally in native tree communities or pathogen monitoring.

* Experience working with Fusarium dieback - invasive shothole borers.

* Basic proficiency with GIS software (e.g., ArcGIS Pro, QGIS) and/or experience working with drone imagery.

* Experience with data collection and organization, including field note-taking and GPS use.

* Willingness and physical ability to conduct fieldwork under rugged and hot conditions, sometimes for extended hours.

* Comfort working in controlled environments with live insects (e.g., introducing mated females into containment traps), maintaining biosecurity to prevent escape, and performing destructive sampling to score galleries, life stages, and associated fungi.

* Experience setting up and maintaining lure-baited trap arrays (randomized/blocked layouts), handling/rotating lures, and collecting trap-catch data consistently across repeated monitoring efforts.

* Demonstrated commitment to phytosanitary best practices in field settings.

• 3 required (contact information only)

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

To implement this process, UC Davis requires all applicants for any open search to complete, sign, and upload the form entitled, "Authorization to Release Information" into UC RECRUIT as part of their application. If an applicant does not include the signed authorization with the application materials, the application will be considered incomplete, and as with any incomplete application, will not receive further consideration.

UC Davis is a smoke and tobacco-free campus (http://breathefree.ucdavis.edu/).

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state for federal law.

Under Federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documents as specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Certain UC Davis positions funded by federal contracts or sub-contracts require the selected candidate to pass an E-Verify check. More information is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify

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