CALS- Technician I- School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS)

Technican I- Research Technician, AgMicrobiome Lab

The Opportunity

As a university founded to be a place where "...any person can find instruction in any study," inclusion and belonging are at the core of our values and mission. We strive to be a welcoming, caring, healthy, and equitable community where students, faculty, and staff with different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn, innovate, and work in an environment of respect, and feel empowered to engage in any community conversation. As a member of the Cornell University community, it is important to recognize our shared responsibility to each other to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all. Cornell Core values

As an individual contributor you will model and support a culture of inclusion, belonging, and wellbeing and continually seek to understand how your role, behaviors, and actions impact the success of this culture.

While position responsibilities vary greatly, the Skills for Success and Leadership Skills for Successare foundational to what is expected ofevery employee and leader working at Cornell. These skills are essential for individual and organizational success. Staff Skills for Success; Leadership Skills for Success

About the College

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is a pioneer of purpose-driven science and Cornell University's second largest college. We work across disciplines to tackle the challenges of our time through world-renowned research, education, and outreach. The questions we probe and the answers we seek focus on three overlapping concerns: We believe that achieving next-generation scientific breakthroughs requires an understanding of the world's complex, interlocking systems. We believe that access to nutritious food and a healthy environment is a fundamental human right. We believe that ensuring a prosperous global future depends on the ability to support local people and communities everywhere. By working in and across multiple scientific areas, CALS can address challenges and opportunities of the greatest relevance, here in New York, across the nation, and around the world.

The position is housed in the School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe Biology Section, within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. The section supports research, teaching, and extension programs focused on plant diseases, plant associated microbes, and disease management in agricultural systems relevant to New York State and beyond.

The AgMicrobiome Lab at Cornell seeks to understand how crops recruit microbes under varying environmental pressures and to harness this recruitment to help crops resist disease and tolerate environmental stressors. We conduct the bulk of our research in the field, utilizing crop breeding resources to aid our understanding of plant selection of microbes. By moving from field environments to growth chambers, our philosophy is to capture plant-microbe interaction phenotypes in high-complexity environments, and then study these interactions in low-complexity environments to investigate mechanisms. Research activities span laboratory, greenhouse, growth chamber, and field settings and integrates mycology, plant genetics, and microbiome research. While research conducted by the lab is fundamental in nature, the motivation for the research is based in real-world opportunities to improve sustainable agriculture in the state of New York.

The Technician I will play a key role in the AgMicrobiome program alongside other members of the lab and the PI. The Technician I will mainly be responsible for organizing, sampling, and processing plant tissue samples sourced from field sites and growth chambers. The technician will also assist with drought studies of wheat and subsequent examination of the wheat rhizosphere community. The technician is expected to carry out DNA extractions from plant tissues, evaluate foliar disease severity when required for wheat and grape, and prepare metabarcoding libraries for profiling bacterial and fungal communities. The technician will assist with maintaining laboratory safety compliance, lab inventory management, and routine maintenance of equipment.

This is a full-time position at 97.5% FTE. This is a one-year term appointment that is contingent upon available work, funding, and performance.

The individual will need to have the ability to drive to field sites in Geneva in order to collect samples and bring them back to the lab in Ithaca.

While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

The Technician I works collaboratively with faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergraduate students, and research farm personnel to support laboratory, greenhouse, growth chamber, and field research activities.

Successful performance in this position requires the ability to work independently while following established research protocols and safety procedures. The Technician I must maintain consistent attention to experimental detail and data quality across laboratory, growth chamber, and field environments. Clear communication with supervisors, collaborators, and student employees is essential to ensure continuity of experiments and safe operation of research activities. The position requires reliability, organization, and the ability to manage multiple tasks across seasonal research demands.

What We Need

• Associate's degree and up to 2 years of relevant experience or equivalent combination in plant biology, plant pathology, agronomy, crop science, environmental microbiology, or a related field.

• Prior experience working with plants and or plant pathogens in laboratory, greenhouse, or field settings, including routine plant care and handling of biological materials.

• Prior knowledge of laboratory, greenhouse, and field safety protocols, including proper handling and disposal of biological and chemical materials.

• Prior experience isolating fungal and bacterial cultures from plant tissues and maintaining culture collections.

• Experience following established research protocols and maintaining accurate records for experiments and trials.

• Ability to work independently across laboratory, greenhouse, and field environments and manage multiple tasks across seasonal research demands.

• Experience with Microsoft office suite - including Word, PowerPoint and Excel and familiarity with google drive.

• Ability to communicate verbally and written with faculty, staff and students.

• Ability to perform physically demanding work, including lifting up to 50 pounds and working outdoors in variable weather conditions.

• Must have and maintain a valid and unrestricted NYS driver's license and be cleared to drive for university business.

• Experience working directly with people from various socioeconomic backgrounds.

• Experience incorporating the perspectives of multiple communities.

• Experience modeling values that support inclusion, belonging, and wellbeing.

• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.

If you have all those things, great! We have a few more things that we would prefer you to have, but it's ok if you don't.

• Experience working with pathogens of grasses in laboratory, greenhouse, and field settings.

• Experience with characterizing fungal communities using culture-dependent or independent methods.

• Experience in data analysis using standard research software (R, SAS, etc.).

• Experience with molecular biology techniques such as DNA extraction, PCR, and qPCR.

• Experience managing field trials, including planting, inoculating, rating disease, and harvesting plant material.

Rewards and Benefits

Cornell receives national recognition as an award-winning workplace for our health, wellbeing, and sustainability.

• Our benefits programs include comprehensive health care options, generous retirement contributions, access to wellness programs, and employee discounts with local and national retail brands. We invite you to follow this link to get more information about our benefits: Understand Your Benefits | Working at Cornell.

• Our leave provisions include health and personal leave, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end of the year winter break from December 25-January 1. To offer greater flexibility for observing faiths and traditions we also offer two additional floating holidays. Learn more about our generous leave provisions: Holiday and Accrued Time Off | Working at Cornell

• Cornell's impressive educational benefits include tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program, tuition aid for external education, and Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program. Learn more about our extensive educational benefits: Education Benefits | Working at Cornell

• Follow this link to learn more about the Total Rewards of Working at Cornell:

Total Rewards | Working at Cornell.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Cornell is an equal opportunity employer. For more information, visit hr.cornell.edu/eeo.

University Job Title:

Job Family:

Level:

Pay Rate Type:

Pay Range:

Remote Option Availability:

Company:

Contact Name:

Contact Email:

Job Titles and Pay Ranges:

Non-Union Positions

Noted pay ranges reflect the potential pay opportunity for each job profile. The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering the following criteria:

• Prior relevant work or industry experience

• Education level to the extent education is relevant to the position

• Unique applicable skills

• Academic Discipline

To learn more about Cornell's non-union staff job titles and pay ranges, see Career Navigator.

Union Positions

The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined in accordance with the rates in the respective collective bargaining agreement. To learn more about Cornell's union wages, see Union Pay Rates.

Current Employees:

If you currently work at Cornell University, please exit this website and log in to Workday using your Net ID and password. Select the Career icon on your Home dashboard to view jobs at Cornell.

Online Submission Guidelines:

Most positions at Cornell will require you to apply online and submit both a resume/CV and cover letter. You can upload documents either by "dragging and dropping" them into the dropbox or by using the "upload" icon on the application page. For more detailed instructions on how to apply to a job at Cornell, visit How We Hire on the HR website.

Employment Assistance:

For general questions about the position or the application process, please contact the Recruiter listed in the job posting or email mycareer@cornell.edu.

If you require an accommodation for a disability in order to complete an employment application or to participate in the recruiting process, you are encouraged to contact Cornell Office of Civil Rights at voice (607) 255-2242, or email at accommodations@cornell.edu.

Applicants that do not have internet access are encouraged to visit your local library, or local Department of Labor. You may also request an appointment to use a dedicated workstation in the Office of Talent Attraction and Recruitment, at the Ithaca campus, by emailing mycareer@cornell.edu.

Notice to Applicants:

Please read the required Notice to Applicants statement by clicking here. This notice contains important information about applying for a position at Cornell as well as some of your rights and responsibilities as an applicant.

EEO Statement:

Cornellwelcomes students, faculty, and staff with diverse backgrounds from across the globe to pursue world-class education and career opportunities, to further the founding principle of "... any person ... any study." No person shall be denied employment on the basis of any legally protected status or subjected to prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, ethnic or national origin, citizenship and immigration status, color, sex, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, creed, religion, actual or perceived disability (including persons associated with such a person), arrest and/or conviction record, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender expression and/or identity, an individual's genetic information, domestic violence victim status, familial status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Cornell University embraces diversity in its workforce and seeksjob candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty, and staff of all identities and backgrounds. Wehire based on merit, andencourage people from historically underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.Consistent with federal law, Cornell engages in affirmative action in employment for qualified protected veterans as defined in the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and qualified individuals with disabilities under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations in accordance with applicable law.