USDA-ARS Research Fellowship in Dairy Nutrition and Bioinformatics

*Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), within the Dairy Forage Research Unit at the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center located in Madison, Wisconsin.

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.

The Dairy Forage Research Unit in Madison, WI where the appointment is based out of enhances the production capacity, efficiency, product quality and sustainability of dairy systems through better understanding and management of the factors and relationship affecting dairy cattle nutrition.

Research Project: The project supports the goal of understanding the utility of data collected from USDA research farms and commercial dairy farms on milk production, animal milking and feeding behavior on predicting changes in diet chemical composition greenhouse gas emissions. The project involves the collection and assimilation of rumination, eating, milking, and other data from USDA research farms and commercial dairy farms with automatic milking systems (AMS). 

Concurrently, the overall objective is to estimate real-time feed efficiency and adjust to meet the animals’ requirements based on routinely collected data. 

Learning Objectives: Participants will manage data from multiple sources based on the farm management system and gain an understanding of how data is processed from commercial AMS farms, processing the data, and supporting model development. The US Dairy Forage Research Center is a unique multidisciplinary research center examining the intersection of crops, cows, and environment, and so will provide the participant not only with experience in data science, but also a broad perspective on the dairy agroecosystem and whole farm agricultural.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Elizabeth French (elizabeth.french@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: September 2023, however start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed for up to 4 total years 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 education and experience. The current stipend for this opportunity is $5,000 - $5,554 per month.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) 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.Midwest@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's degree in one of the relevant fields, or be currently pursuing the degree with completion before the appointment start date.