eDNA Scientist BAS 24/76

Duration: Fixed Term Appointment - 9 Months

Benefits: We offer generous benefits

Location: BAS Cambridge

Job Profile: Job Profile document

Description

£48,802 - £53,682 – the band minimum is the normal starting pay for those new to a role.   In exceptional circumstances, when relevant skills and experience can be identified, a higher starting salary may be considered.

Interview date - Thursday 8th August 2024

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is looking for an exceptional eDNA scientist join our Adaptations team.  BAS delivers and enables world-leading interdisciplinary research in the Polar Regions. We employ experts from many different professions to carry out our Science as well as keep the lights on, feed the research and support teams and keep everyone safe!

As a valued member of our team, you’ll be eligible for the following benefits:

• 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege days
• Excellent civil service pension (with 26% or more employer contribution, depending on your band)
• 24 hours/365 days access to employee assistance programme (EAP – including support with physical, mental, social, health and financial issues)
• Flexible and family friendly working opportunities
• Cycle to work scheme
• Access to discounted shopping on a range of retail, leisure and lifestyle categories and much more.

You’ll be joining our Adaptations Team to work on an exciting project to evaluate the use of eDNA as an effective tool for biodiversity monitoring in the Antarctic. You’ll help us to deliver a report on the biodiversity of the shallow water benthos around Rothera Research Station for the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation Programme. Please note that the samples have already been taken and this post does not involve Antarctic field work.

Current projects the team are working on include understanding how marine animals adapt to the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean and how they respond to change; eDNA analyses of sediments, in particular characterising antimicrobial resistance genes and invertebrate gut microbiomes; biodiversity surveys and long-term monitoring.

Some of your main responsibilities will include:

• Perform PCR OF 18S and COI amplicons from eDNA samples taken at Rothera Research Station in the 2023/2024 season and send off for sequencing.
• Analyse amplicon sequence data to define biodiversity counts based on water depth across several transects (temporal and spatial) and compare water versus sediment eDNA.
• Compare these data with biodiversity measures taken using film/photographs.

For the role of eDNA scientist, we are looking for somebody who has:

• PhD in molecular biology/marine biology, ecology
• Molecular biologist with experience of amplicon PCR optimization
• Strong numerical skills with experience of R/Python/bash and familiarity using HPC
• Good interpersonal skills

Please download job description for more details.

If we’ve just described you, we’d love to hear from you.  Apply now via the 'Apply' button above.

What experiences can we offer you?

At BAS we believe everyone plays a vital role, is unique and valued, therefore, we embrace diversity as well as equality of opportunity and are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming working environment where everyone’s unique perspectives are valued.

Different perspectives and collaborative working help us achieve our best work and come together to form a high performing team which makes positive changes in the business. That’s the power of every individual.  Our cultural values are built on mutual respect, inclusion, commitment and excellence.

If you are looking for an opportunity to work with world class and amazing people in one of the most unique places in the world, then British Antarctic Survey could be for you.

If you require the job information in an alternative format (i.e. email, audio or video), or would like any further information or support, please do not hesitate to get in touch at jobs@bas.ac.uk or alternatively you can call us on 01223 221508.