Tag: Misc.

of possible interest – just got this in email

Postdoctoral Scholar

Position Available

Plant Pathology Department

University of California, Davis Campus

Job Details:

The successful candidate will conduct basic and applied research contributing to sustainable management of Prunus replant disease (PRD; a soilborne disease complex), especially as it affects almond orchards. Areas of focus will include (i) metagenomic and transcriptomic examinations of PRD and (ii) optimization of soil-amendment-based strategies, including anaerobic soil disinfestation, to manage the disease. The research will be conducted in lab, greenhouse, and field settings. The lab is committed to development of sustainable, practical management strategies for soilborne diseases of fruit and nut trees. Lab team projects include determining etiology of emerging diseases, development of soil-amendment-based control strategies for soilborne diseases, and development of rootstocks that resist key soilborne pathogens. The desired start date for this postdoctoral position is no later than July 1, 2016.

Qualifications:

The position requires a recent Ph.D. degree in plant pathology, soil microbiology, or a closely related field. Knowledge and experience with modern molecular methods used in environmental examinations (e.g., extraction and purification of nucleic acids from complex samples, PCR, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics), experience with plants, and high motivation to solve complex agricultural problems will be essential. Knowledge and experience in bioinformatics are desirable.

Application Materials:

To apply, please provide (1) a cover letter that captures your related interests, experiences, and career goals, (2) a current CV, (3) contact information for three references that may be consulted, and (4) a listing of pertinent coursework (unofficial transcripts may be used). Please email all application materials, combining where possible into a single pdf file, to Dr. Greg Browne: gtbrowne

Work location: USDA-ARS lab, Plant Pathology Department, UC Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA. Position will involve travel to various field sites in California. UC Davis is a Land Grant University. For more information, see https://www.ucdavis.edu/

For additional information, contact Dr. Greg Browne, (530)754-9351 or gtbrowne

Salary commensurate with experience, per the UCD postdoc pay scale (see

)

Desired start date is July 1, 2016. Preference will be given to applications received by June 10, 2016.

UC is an AA/EO employer

UC Davis is a smoke and tobacco free campus effective January 1, 2014. Smoking, the use of smokeless tobacco products, and the use of unregulated nicotine products (e-cigarettes) will be strictly prohibited on any UC Davis owned or leased property, indoors and outdoors, including parking lots and residential space.

BrownePostdocPositionAvailableAd fin(004).docx

________

Seminar Announcement

The Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences is hosting the Eldridge Moores Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Professor Lee Kump of Penn State University who will be delivering the Distinguished Lecture “How did the atmosphere become oxygen-rich?” at 4:10 pm June 1st in 55 Roessler Hall.

Please see the attached flyer for details -an abstract follows as well.

How did the atmosphere become oxygen-rich?

Two things are certain about the history of atmospheric oxygen: when Earth first formed, there was none, and today we have 21%. To piece together the rest one uses geological, isotopic and biological proxies and tolerances. Most scientists now agree that the Archean (prior to 2.5 billion years ago) the atmospheric was essentially anoxic except, perhaps, for geologically brief intervals of oxygenation. Then, with the transition from the Archean to the Proterozoic Eon, the atmosphere passed through a low threshold set by the appearance of mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation of some 1/100,000th of the modern level. How high it rose is unclear, but the proxies suggest a Proterozoic atmosphere of 0.1 to 1% of modern oxygen levels and a second rise into the Phanerozoic to near modern levels.

This talk will focus neither on the timing of these stepwise increases nor on an assessment of the constraints on oxygen level. Rather it will explore the long-term drivers and feedbacks that together may explain why atmospheric oxygen levels followed this trajectory. The first topic is the initial rise (the Great Oxidation Event) at 2.4 Ga, an enigma because of indications that oxygenic photosynthesis was invented and exploited globally long before then. We propose that a shift in the dominant style of volcanism from submarine in the Archean and subaerial in the post-Archean, tied to the stabilization of the continental cratons, can account for this first rise in atmospheric oxygen.

The second rise, in the Neoproterozoic, is even more challenging to explain. We explore the hypothesis that it was tiedl to the “greening” of the land surface, i.e., the establishment of biotic soils with fungi that not only accelerated weathering whose metabolic wastes, together with their microbial collaborators, led to oxygen depletion in soils. To restore the balance between O2 production during organic carbon burial and O2 consumption during weathering, the O2 level had to rise.

Neither of these hypotheses has exceptionally strong support, so the take-home message is that the stepwise oxygenation of the atmosphere had to be the result of fundamental and permanent changes in the exogenic cycle; it can’t be the result of events (such as organic carbon burial events).

MooresScholar_LeeKump2016_v2.pdf

Kabir Peay

Stanford University

"Microbes, mutualism and the nature of soil biodiversity"

4:10pm

Social Sciences 1100.

Abstract: Microbes are a critical component of the diversity and function of ecosystems. Among microbes, fungi are key regulators of decomposition rates, facilitate plant nutrient uptake and have a profound impact on agriculture and industry. Technical breakthroughs in DNA sequencing have revealed incredible fungal diversity, and shown that fungal symbioses are ubiquitous in plants. Despite this, there is still a limited understanding of the ecological and evolutionary forces that structure high diversity fungal communities, and how fungal symbioses influence plant community structure and function. My lab uses a combination of ecological theory, molecular biology techniques, and field and laboratory experiments to study fungal communities in terrestrial soils. In particular, I focus on fungi involved in mycorrhizal symbiosis, the most common form of plant-microbe mutualism. My research is focused on three linked topics: (i) how fungal communities assemble at both local and continental scales, (ii) how the structure of fungal communities influences decomposition and nutrient availability, and (iii) how nutrient uptake through mycorrhizal symbiosis to influences plant growth. By integrating these three topics I hope to build a ‘roots-to-biomes’ understanding of ecological communities and ecosystem function.

The UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will be offering a free five day camp will engage girls in sustainable engineering design: "Girls Saving the World through Engineering." Through hands-on activities, design challenges, and discussions, girls will 1) understand how civil engineers help the public through environmentally-friendly, cost-effective solutions; 2) discover emerging areas in civil engineering, including bio-inspired design, and 3) envision different pathways to engineering and for engineers. The camp is funded by the National Science Foundation and organized through the Center for Bio-mediated, Bio-inspired Geotechnics. The Center focuses on ecologically friendly, cost-effective solutions, inspired by nature, for development and rehabilitation of resilient and sustainable civil infrastructure systems. It serves as a nexus for two transformative trends in engineering: biologically-based design and sustainability.

Please see our registration website for more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/girls-saving-the-world-through-engineering-day-camp-tickets-24789427846.

Dates: July 25th to July 29nd (9am – 4pm)

Location: 1065 Kemper Hall, UC Davis

Ages: Girls entering 3rd, 4th and 5th grades

Logistics: Breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided for students. The camp will run from 9am to 4pm each day. To allow for transportation flexibility, students can be dropped off between 8am and 9am and picked up between 4pm and 5pm each day.

Register Online at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/girls-saving-the-world-through-engineering-day-camp-tickets-24789427846

Contact: Colleen Bronner, Ph.D. (cebronner

Well, this could be a nice job …

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s science program supports exceptional scientists, invests in new technologies, and brings together new scientific partnerships. We believe in the inherent value of science and the sense of awe that discovery inspires. We believe that unleashing the potential of inquiry and exploration not only leads to scientific progress, but can also deliver important societal benefits. We take risks and look for opportunities to transform or create entire fields.

To complement activities in the Marine Microbiology Initiative (MMI) and other current science program grantmaking, we seek a program fellow to explore opportunities for further foundation impact in the realm of symbiosis. Here, we refer to symbiosis as the interactions between microbes (bacteria, archaea, and protists) and animals, plants, fungi, and other microbes. We also consider the role of viruses in these relationships. We consider symbiosis broadly in terms of habitat (terrestrial and marine), degree of interdependence (transient, obligatory, endosymbiotic, and that which results in organelle evolution), and time (ancient to modern).

https://www.moore.org/about/careers?gnk=job&gni=8a7886f854bce6550154bf941c3b639b

Program Fellow Science Symbiosis.pdf

From: bounce-315852-23241907
Date: May 17, 2016 at 3:34:18 PM PDT
Cc: “Linda A Ziegahn” <laziegahn>
Subject: CTSC ANNOUNCEMENT: Science Communication Seminar Series – “Communication Science to Policy Makers” May 25 – Kit Batten and Deborah Ortiz

Communicating Science to Policy Makers 5-25-16.pdf

***** CPB Seminar Reminder for Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 4:10pm in 1022 Life Sciences *****

Speaker: Brandon Cooper
Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Davis
Title: “Wolbachia frequency variation in space and time in a hybridizing host clade”
Host: Michael Turelli

The entire CPB Seminar schedule for Spring Quarter 2016 is available here.