USDA-ARS Student Research Opportunity in Laboratory Analyses and Plant Evaluations

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A student research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) located in Houma, Louisiana.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

Research Project: This project is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) Bioenergy Research Center. CABBI's mission is to develop efficient ways to grow bioenergy crops, transform biomass into valuable chemicals, and market the resulting biofuels and other bioproducts. It aims to integrate recent advances in agronomics, genomics, and synthetic and computation biology to increase the value of energy crops and help reduce our nation's dependence on fossil fuels. The USDA-ARS's role in CABBI is to develop high-yielding energy cane varieties that are adapted to the southeastern United States. Assessment of different varieties of cane for yield and quality traits (e.g., cold tolerance, recoverable sucrose, biomass yield, disease resistance, etc.) will be conducted as part of this project, which falls under the "Feedstock Production" theme of CABBI.

The participant will participate in field and laboratory research to assess cane yield and quality traits. 

Learning Objectives: The participant will gain hands-on laboratory experience and learn laboratory techniques (e.g., filtration, pipetting, preparation of solutions, recording and compiling data, etc.) and how to use standard laboratory equipment (e.g., spectrophotometer, pH meters, PCR, centrifuge, HPLC, etc.). In addition, he/she will learn to properly evaluate and collect data for scientific experiments. This research opportunity will teach the participant skills necessary for future work in the field of biological science.

Mentor(s): The mentors(s) for this opportunity is Anna Hale (Anna.Hale@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: May 2023.  Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for three months in the summer, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full-time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process, please email ORISE.ARS.Southeast@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

The qualified candidate should have received a High School Diploma/GED and currently be pursuing an associate's or bachelor's degree in one of the relevant fields.

Preferred Skills: