Postdoctoral Research Associate – Food Safety Microbiology

About the role

The Postdoctoral Research Associate will investigate bacterial stress responses and multispecies biofilm ecology that drive persistence of zoonotic food‑borne pathogens. The work supports a One Health research program combining laboratory experiments, field sampling, and multi‑omics analysis.

Key responsibilities

• Design, conduct, and troubleshoot controlled experiments on bacterial stress responses, biofilm models, and pathogen persistence.
• Process environmental and animal samples, prepare 16S and shotgun metagenomics libraries, and perform downstream analysis in R or Python.
• Plan and support environmental sampling in beef and dairy production settings, coordinating with collaborators.
• Maintain detailed records, contribute to data management, and co‑author peer‑reviewed manuscripts, reports, and conference presentations.
• Mentor graduate and undergraduate students and assist with grant reporting and proposal preparation.

Required profile

• PhD in microbiology, microbial ecology, or a related field (or equivalent research experience).
• Hands‑on experience with bacterial culture and molecular microbiology techniques.
• Knowledge of microbiome sequencing (16S or metagenomics) and basic data analysis in R or Python.
• Ability to design and run controlled experiments independently and document results clearly.

Required skills

• Bacterial culture techniques
• Molecular microbiology
• 16S rRNA sequencing
• Shotgun metagenomics
• R programming
• Python programming

What we offer

• Competitive salary commensurate with qualifications
• Health, dental, vision, life and long‑term disability insurance
• Paid holidays, sick leave and vacation
• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
• Professional development through Aspire, LinkedIn Learning and internal programs