Research Geneticist

The scientist supports the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station and are located in Lexington, KY.

The scientist conducts research to understand how forest trees have adapted to their environments, and how that knowledge can be applied to meet management alternatives that promotes the sustainability of forest trees and forest types critical to the Southern and Central Hardwood Forest Regions.

For more information about this position, contact Charles Nelson at charles.d.nelson@usda.gov.

Qualifications:

To qualify, you must meet the qualifications requirements defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more info, visit Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

This is a research scientist position and is classified under the scientist career plan. Research scientists have open-ended promotion potential. Research accomplishments and their impact on the duties and responsibilities of positions are evaluated periodically. The grade level is limited only by the individual's demonstrated ability to perform research of recognized importance to science and technology. Final grade level will be determined by a peer review panel. The purpose of the initial review panel is to determine the grade level upon entry into a position. Candidates being considered for this research position should provide a list of publications for which you have been an author, co-author, or contributor. If providing curriculum vitae, please incorporate all resume requirements identified in the REQUIRED DOCUMENTS section of this announcement or submit a supplemental resume which includes all information required in addition to the curriculum vitae.

Work Experience: Your resume must clearly document the following for each block of work experience; the beginning month and year the work assignment started and ended; the hours worked per week; position title, and series and grade if applicable; and description of duties performed. Each work experience should be clearly documented as a separate block of time. Incomplete, inaccurate or conflicting work history may not be credited for qualifications purposes.

To ensure consideration for this position, attach both graduate and undergraduate transcripts. Provide course descriptions to clarify content of coursework as necessary.

Genetics Series (0440) Basic Requirement:
Degree: genetics; or one of the basic biological sciences that included at least 9 semester hours in genetics.

Graduate Education: Genetics, or a curriculum or pattern of training that placed major emphasis on genetics. Graduate study in related fields such as agronomy, horticulture, animal, dairy, or poultry husbandry, entomology, microbiology, plant pathology, chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and physiology that involved cross-training in genetics is qualifying, provided it placed sufficient emphasis on genetics.

Evaluation of Education: Specific training in genetics may be limited at the undergraduate level. Under these circumstances, undergraduate course work will be evaluated as follows.

1. Courses dealing with genetics, some phase of genetics, or specific techniques that are applied in genetics work are acceptable. This includes courses in genetics, plant or animal genetics, molecular and cellular biology, mathematics and statistics (as they apply to genetics), population dynamics, and certain techniques such as those dealing with irradiation.

2. Course work consisting of an appropriate combination of basic courses in genetics and cytology or statistics are also acceptable.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience or graduate education in the amounts listed below.

GS-12: One year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11), defined as:

• Conducting the full cycle of scientific research (including identifying research topics, defining study objectives, organizing and conducting the research, interpreting the results, and presenting the findings in the form of reports, demonstrations, manuscripts, and other appropriate technology transfer activities) in one or more of the following areas: conducting genetics research with the goal of quantifying and understanding the role of genetic variation in the adaption, performance, and succession of natural (e.g., stands across the landscape) and artificial populations (e.g., planted stands, seed orchards, breeding populations) with areas of emphasis on (1) ecological/landscape genomics, identification of adaptive traits and genes and characterization of genotype-environment and genotype-phenotype associations with applications in climate-adaptive seed sourcing and forest management; (2) quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping experiments and analyses leading to marker-assisted selection for tree breeding, candidate gene identification/characterization for breeding and genetic modification, and climate-smart seed sourcing; (3) genome-wide association (GWAS) and genome selection (GS) studies, utilizing multi-environment experiments and generalized linear mixed model analyses with applications for genome prediction for seed-sourcing and tree breeding.
• Conducting statistical analyses of large data sets, including genotypic, phenotypic, and environmental (e.g., climate, soils, etc.) data.
• Disseminating research findings at conferences or scientific meetings and publishing results in peer-reviewed journals.

• Conducting a diversity or body of research in the population and quantitative genetics, genomics and bioinformatics, and statistical modeling and analysis of difficult problems affecting the growth and development of forest trees, the genetic basis of individual- and stand-level traits, and management of tree improvement populations over wide geographic areas with many unknowns, including climate, land use, and resource ownership as a Principal Investigator or project member on multiple studies that include the full cycle of scientific research (i.e. identifying research topics, defining study objectives, organizing and conducting the research, interpreting the results, and presenting the findings in the form of reports, demonstrations, manuscripts, and other appropriate technology transfer activities)as it pertains to: conducting genetics research with the goal of quantifying and understanding the role of genetic variation in the adaption, performance, and succession of natural (e.g., stands across the landscape) and artificial populations (e.g., planted stands, seed orchards, breeding populations) with areas of emphasis on (1) ecological/landscape genomics, identification of adaptive traits and genes and characterization of genotype-environment and genotype-phenotype associations with applications in climate-adaptive seed sourcing and forest management; (2) quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping experiments and analyses leading to marker-assisted selection for tree breeding and candidate gene identification/characterization for breeding and genetic modification, and climate-smart seed sourcing; (3) genome-wide association (GWAS) and genome selection (GS) studies, utilizing multi-environment experiments and generalized linear mixed model analyses with applications for genome prediction for seed-sourcing and tree breeding.
• Forming, leading, and participating in research teams, regional, and/or national importance
• Developing and advancing innovative research to provide viable options to programs designed to restore and manage healthy populations of forest tree species affected by invasive diseases and pests.
• Developing and disseminating research findings in collaboration with resource managers and planners for presentation at conferences or scientific meetings and publishing results in peer-reviewed journals.