A Research Associate (Postdoctoral researcher) position and at least one PhD student position are available in the lab of Dr. Dawn Dechand (aka Reinhold) in the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department (BAE). The Dechand Laboratory studies the fate of pollutants in plant-based ecosystems and the associated design of ecological treatment systems for water pollution. The Research Associate and PhD student(s) will research the role of exudates in mediating the duckweed microbiome when duckweed is exposed to antibiotics and ammonium. Research questions include: how does the exudate composition change when duckweed is exposed to antibiotics with and without its microbiome? How does antibiotic exposure affect microbiome communities? What is the variability in response due to source of duckweed, species of duckweed, and source of microbiome? And lastly, can we engineer microbiomes to modify the fate of antibiotics in aquatic ecosystems? Students with interests and backgrounds in advanced mass spectrometry (e.g., metabolomics), plant tissue culture, and genomics are strongly encouraged to apply. Responsibilities will include: analysis of exudate samples using mass spectrometry (LC/MS/QTOF) and metabolomic software, culture of sterile and nonsterile duckweed, preparation and/or analysis of samples for genomic analysis, experimental design, sample collection, manuscript preparation, and mentoring. Opportunities for teaching can be made available.
Postdoc applicants: Please apply at https://careers.msu.edu/en-us/job/506697/research-associatefixed-term as soon as possible.
PhD applicants: Applicant review will begin immediately and conclude November 1, 2022. Please email dechand@msu.edu for more information.