Researcher - Academic jobs in Helena, MT

The position is funded by a recent grant from the US Department of Energy (award number DE-SC0024296) to study the biogeochemical implications of nitrite-dependent methane-oxidizing bacteria recently identified from the metagenome of anoxic riparian groundwaters in central Montana. These bacteria are known to occupy a metabolic niche in anaerobic marine microbial communities (Bertagnolli and Stewart 2018), but their abundance and biogeochemical relevance are not well characterized in anoxic freshwater systems like carbon-rich riparian wetlands or shallow riparian groundwaters. This research is an extension of a long history of research on nitrogen cycling in central Montana agricultural landscapes by project co-PIs and is strongly motivated by the potential for these anaerobic bacterial communities to meaningfully influence greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural stream corridor ecosystems. The strategic vision for model development is to characterize the thermodynamic favorability (sensu Payn et al. 2014) of nitrite-dependent methane oxidation in the context of other mechanisms of anaerobic metabolism in stream corridors.

• Creative coding skills and the enthusiasm for building further software development skills necessary to develop the proposed modeling framework, both for the purpose of addressing the specific scientific questions in this project and for the purpose of developing more generally applicable software libraries.

• A PhD in an earth systems related field of research associated with aqueous biogeochemistry.

• The postdoctoral researcher will be expected to develop into a senior participant on a project team involving graduate and undergraduate student research. Candidates must have experience that demonstrates their ability to provide safe and inclusive mentorship to diverse junior members of the team.

• Experience with development of a combination of C libraries utilized by R or Python analytical workflow management is currently envisioned, but experience in other relevant coding environments is open for consideration.

• Graduate research experience with publications in modeling of biogeochemical processes with links to genomic characterization of microbial communities.

• Experience and leadership in modular software development, effective code revision management (i.e., git), and reproducible data product generation is preferred.

This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities, or requirements, but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

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