Research and Scientific Insights: Microbiology Co-op

Indigo is a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. With a vision of creating a world where farming is an economically desirable and accessible profession, Indigo works alongside its growers to apply natural approaches, conserve resources for future generations, and grow healthy food for all. Utilizing beneficial plant microbes to improve crop health and productivity, Indigo’s portfolio is focused on cotton, wheat, barley, corn, soybeans, and rice. The company, founded by Flagship Pioneering, is headquartered in Boston, MA, with additional offices in Memphis, TN, Research Triangle Park, NC, Sydney, Australia, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and São Paulo, Brazil. www.indigoag.com

This co-op will contribute to projects that explore and demonstrate potential of new ways to identify useful microbes to develop as products and new ways to produce microbes with commercially relevant activities. Day to day work will involve growing microbes under various conditions and testing in relevant activity assays either in vitro or as crop seed treatments. Other projects involve DNA isolation from environmental samples and testing protocols to identify useful information from these samples. If interested, there will be opportunity for this co-op to apply novel computational analyses to understand this data.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Grow microbes in the lab with aseptic technique
• Analyze properties of microbial cultures using basic biochemical techniques
• Grow crop seedlings in the lab to test effects of microbial treatments on seedling health
• Isolate DNA from soil or plant samples
• Carry out protocols involving separation, manipulation, and analysis of DNA molecules, including qPCR and sequencing library preparation
• Analyze and report experimental results through basic figures, lab write ups, and powerpoint presentations
• Excited by Indigo’s mission; believes that Indigo can fundamentally change the agriculture industry; can clearly articulate passion for our mission and values
  • Optimistic and innovative; solution-oriented; shows no signs of cynicism
  • Will be widely viewed as someone who personifies our core values, is committed to them, and leans on them when making decisions. Specifically:
    • Demonstrates a track record of high integrity - doing the right thing, owning mistakes, conducting oneself honestly
    • Values, communicates and interacts with others with high levels of transparency and respect
    • Collaborates well across functions; creates an inspiring and collegial work environment

COMPETENCIES

• Basic microbiology skills (aseptic technique, media preparation, culturing of bacteria and fungi)
• Basic molecular biology/biochemistry skills (molecular analysis through electrophoresis, sample fractionation)
• Experience with basic DNA isolation and analysis techniques (DNA purification protocols, qPCR, sequencing library preparation)
• Able to design thorough experiments to evaluate experimental variables and troubleshoot protocols -Able to learn new skills quickly
• Experience growing plants and evaluating their health
• Effective communication skills through writing and oral communication
• Basic computational skills desired but not required (R, Python, R Studio or Jupyter notebooks, ggplot, Matplotlib, Seaborn, etc)