Postdoctoral Opportunity: Thermal tolerance, population variability and experimental restoration of kelp in Southern CA in the Smith Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography

The Smith lab is looking to recruit a new postdoctoral researcher in early 2024 to work on an exiting new project focused on thermal tolerance in habitat forming and understory kelp taxa in southern California as related to global change. The primary responsibilities of the postdoc will include: designing and running thermal tolerance experiments across taxa and life stages of kelp, conducting photophysiological assessments of responses and assisting with field work for sample collections and experimental restoration studies. The candidate must a) have experience running thermal tolerance experiments with seaweeds, b) have experience working with lab based seaweed cultures including different life stages of kelp taxa, c) be comfortable performing photophysiological assessments of seaweeds including running photosynthesis/irradiance curves, measuring photosynthetic efficiency using a PAM fluorometer, measuring photosynthetic pigment concentration and running enzymatic assays, d) be comfortable setting up and maintaining aquarium systems and, e) have demonstrated experience performing statistical analyses on experimental data and writing up results for peer reviewed publication.

This postdoc will be joining a multidisciplinary team of researchers who will also be working on molecular characterization of kelp populations in southern California as well as experimenting with restoration techniques. The candidate would ideally be interested in working actively with the team and would contribute to different aspects of the research. Ideally the candidate would have a scientific SCUBA diving certification and have experience conducting subtidal kelp forest research.

The position requires a Ph.D., in a relevant field, at the time of application, and candidates should have a competitive record of publication. Salary will depend on experience and be based on UCSD pay scales. Interested candidates should send a cover letter, CV and list of references as a single PDF to smithj@ucsd.edu.  Applications will be reviewed once received but for full consideration, please apply by Dec 31, 2023.

SIO is a world-renowned center of marine research with approximately 200 principal investigators leading research programs on all aspects of earth, ocean, biological and atmospheric sciences. We are committed to academic excellence and diversity within the faculty, staff, and student body. UCSD is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer with a strong institutional commitment to excellence and diversity (http://diversity.ucsd.edu).