Research Associate, Microbial Sourcing

Indigo improves grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health through the use of natural microbiology and digital technologies. Utilizing beneficial plant microbes and agronomic insights, Indigo works with growers to sustainably produce high quality harvests. The company then connects growers and buyers directly to bring these harvests to market. Working across the supply chain, Indigo is forwarding its mission of harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. The company is headquartered in Boston, MA, with additional offices in Memphis, TN, Research Triangle Park, NC, Sydney, Australia, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and São Paulo, Brazil. http://www.indigoag.com/

The role of Research Associate, Microbial Sourcing will contribute to the microbial bioprospecting team, with the primary objective of isolation and identification of diverse bacterial and fungal endophytes.

Responsibilities:

• Become familiar with current Focused Sourcing pipeline and protocols
• Master all plant processing and strain isolation SOPs:
  • Aid team in increasing throughput of strain isolation pipeline
  • Become workstream owner for 1 task within Microbial Sourcing team
  • Use Excel to enter sample metadata to ensure complete traceability
• Design strategy for increasing diversity of microbes isolated
• Master molecular biology techniques for strain identification
• Understand and embody our mission & core values

Competencies:

• Strong communication skills
• Able to work well across various teams
• Proactive; demonstrated ability to plan and organize experiments
• Excellent organizational skills
• Meticulous record-keeping and data management
• Able to flex to new projects quickly
• Naturally inquisitive
• Able to multi-task
• Strong data management skills
• Able to maintain a positive attitude under stress
• Able to manage a high throughput, fast-paced environment

Qualifications:

• B.S. degree in Microbiology or relevant area, or Associates Degree in relevant field with 2+ years’ professional experience
• Experience working on a team
• 1+ years working in a lab environment (Microbiology or Molecular Biology lab experience preferred)
• Aseptic technique
• Able to perform occasional field work
• Experience in microbial culturing; media prep, sterile technique