Synthetic Community Co-op

Please Submit applications by 6am on Tuesday, October 15th, 2019.

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

The Synthetic Community Co-op will be a part of the Research and Scientific Insights team and will support a research project investigating plant-beneficial microbial communities. This team aims to harness the benefits of plant microbiomes to develop microbial solutions for increased crop health and yield, and the co-op will contribute to the development and evaluation of a strategy for engineering complex synthetic communities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Synthesize biological hypotheses for building synthetic communities
• Mine taxonomic, ecological, and phenotypic data in the Indigo culture collection
• Culture and maintain diverse microbes from the Indigo culture collection
• Construct complex synthetic communities from the Indigo culture collection
• Develop methods for evaluating microbial compatibility and colonization in planta
• Evaluate efficacy of synthetic communities in planta
• Work closely with Microbial Sourcing and Evaluation (MSE) and other R&D teams
• Keep an organized and detailed lab notebook
• Analyze and communicate experimental results
• Understand and embody our purpose & core values
  • 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

• Interest in life sciences, especially plant biology and microbiology
• Molecular biology skills, including sterile technique and DNA extraction
• Possess a basic understanding of microbiology lab techniques (e.g. plating and CFU counting, streaking for isolation)
• Experience growing plants in the greenhouse or in media (preferred, not required)
• Positive attitude and enthusiasm
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Excellent note-taking skills
• Attention to detail
• Alignment with core values and mission of Indigo