The Pinto research group (www.pintolab.com) at Georgia Tech in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering is looking to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in drinking water microbiology/microbial ecology. The anticipated start date is August 15th, 2023.
The PDRA will collaborate with a team of academic and industry researchers and water practitioners on understanding the distribution and concentration of opportunistic pathogens and disinfection byproducts in full-scale drinking water systems. The overall goals of this project are to develop an integrated framework to quantitatively monitor the drinking water microbiome (including opportunistic pathogens) and disinfection byproducts and holistically manage their risks in drinking water systems using inclusive and actionable risk metrics. The inspiration for an integrated monitoring and management framework is based on the understanding that chemical and microbial dynamics in drinking water systems are intricately linked through biotic and abiotic mechanisms and co-influenced by environmental, ecological, and infrastructure conditions and engineering actions.
The PDRA’s specific focus will be to identify biotic and abiotic factors impacting the presence and concentration of opportunistic pathogens within the drinking water microbiome. This will involve analyzing drinking water samples using primarily culture-independent approaches (e.g., flow cytometry, digital PCR, amplicon sequencing, metagenomics) and associated data analyses including bioinformatics, statistical modeling, and machine learning. The PDRA is expected to be highly collaborative and work with multiple researchers focused on complementary aspects of the proposal including microbial culturing, genome-resolved metagenomics, disinfection byproduct analysis, non-targeted mass spectrometry, and chemical/microbial risk analysis. The PDRA will have the opportunity to take on the role of mentoring graduate and undergraduate students and also contribute to and benefit from several ongoing research projects in the Pinto Research Group. Further, this position offers a unique opportunity to work closely with multiple industry partners; this is also an excellent opportunity for the post-doctoral research associate to build their professional research network.
The candidate should (1) have a Ph.D. degree in a STEM field; preferably Environmental Engineering or Microbiology or related disciplines, and (2) have the ability to work in a highly collaborative project. Ideally, the PDRA candidate will have one or more of the following attributes: (1) experience with q/dPCR and amplicon sequencing, (2) experience with metagenomics, (3) experience with flow cytometry, (5) experience programming in R or python and (6) evidence of the scientific impact of their Ph.D. (e.g., pre-prints/peer-reviewed publications).
Potential PDRA applicants should email Prof. Ameet Pinto (ameet.pinto@ce.gatech.edu) with the subject line “Drinking Water PDRA” with the following material (1) a brief cover letter, (2) a detailed curriculum vitae, (3) name and contact information for two references, and (4) examples of two scholarly outputs (pre-prints/peer-reviewed and published or submitted). Review of applications will begin immediately. The expected start-date is August 15th, but a delayed start date is possible for the right candidate. The PDRA will be compensated starting at $65-70K annually (depending on experience) and a full benefits package (medical/dental/vision/life insurance, leave benefits, and retirement benefits). The position is available for three years but subject to annual renewal depending on funding, research progress, and progress toward the PDRA’s career goals.
The culture in the Pinto Research Group reflects Georgia Tech’s commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive community. We welcome applications from all qualified and interested candidates from any ethnic groups, national origins, races, gender/gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation.