Research Assistant

About the role

The Research Assistant will support the Horticultural Sciences department of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, focusing on pecan and hickory field studies. This position combines hands‑on field work, image collection, and data analysis to advance agricultural research.

Key responsibilities

• Perform field ratings of pest presence, disease severity, phenology, and tissue collection in mature and seedling trees (50%).
• Collect, organize, and process images of trees, nuts, diseases, and pests for analysis (20%).
• Analyze data and images using statistical, bioinformatic, or software tools (15%).
• Assist with inventory, sample preparation, and maintenance of an herbarium collection of pecan and hickory specimens (10%).
• Carry out additional duties as assigned (5%).

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Horticulture, Plant Pathology, Entomology, Soil & Crop Sciences, or a related field.
• At least one year of experience in agricultural, genetics, or extension research.
• Ability to obtain a U.S. driver’s license.
• Capacity to work in high heat and humidity and lift objects over 50 lb.

Required skills

• Proficiency with R programming.
• Experience using Unix/Linux environments.
• Familiarity with Jupyter notebooks for documentation and analysis.

What we offer

• Competitive monthly salary starting at $3,750.
• Opportunity to work with a leading agricultural research institution.
• Hands‑on experience in field research, bioinformatics, and image analysis.