This position is located within the Agricultural Research Service; Southeast Area; Sugarcane Research Unit, Houma, LA. In this position, you will be performing agronomy, physiology, or breeding research experiments on field crops; preparing and analyzing statistical data; and using and maintaining field and laboratory instruments.

Duties

Develops and releases sugarcane cultivars and germplasm with improved agronomic traits, adaptability, stress tolerance, and genetic diversity. Determines proper experimental approach in setting up experiments concerning sugarcane variety trials. Supports experiments at field sites, including on-and off-station field trials aimed at increasing yield stability in sugarcane. Operates equipment including sprayers (using pesticides), tractors, and those related to remote sensing. Provides both logistical and data management support to the unit scientist in the design of various experiments and the management of data collected from breeding trials. Maintains official field and laboratory notebooks, recording methods and procedures used, any procedural modifications, observations, and results obtained. Calibrates, maintains, operates, and modifies tractor-pulled agricultural equipment used in sugarcane research. Uses desktop and laptop computers, cloud-based data collection procedures, and data analysis software. Performs measurements and analysis to interpret data.

Requirements

• You must be a US Citizen or US National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
• Direct Deposit: Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify at https://www.e-verify.gov
• Ability to acquire a pesticide license within 90 days.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a driver's license.

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. Basic Requirements Degree: agronomy; or related discipline of science that included at least 30 semester hours of course work in the basic plant sciences, including at least 15 semester hours in agronomic subjects, such as those dealing with plant breeding, crop production, and soil and crop management. OR Combination of education and experience: at least 30 semester hours in the basic plant sciences, including a minimum of 15 semester hours in agronomic subjects, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Graduate Education: Agronomy, or one of the related disciplines or fields of science, such as plant physiology, soils, or genetics, where the curriculum or pattern of training placed major emphasis on field crops or agronomy. Graduate study in related fields, such as botany, plant pathology, and biochemistry may also be qualifying, provided it placed a sufficient amount of emphasis on agronomy. Evaluation of Education: Course work in such subjects as botany, plant taxonomy, plant physiology, plant breeding or genetics, plant ecology, plant pathology, microbiology, agronomy, or those dealing with basic soil-water-plant relationships of an agronomic or ecologic nature may be used to meet the 30-semester-hour requirement in the basic plant sciences. Agronomy courses include agronomy, field crops, field crop production or management, soil and crop management, plant breeding and development, weed control, and similar courses, including those in soils, biochemistry, plant physiology, etc., provided they dealt with principles, methods, or procedures that are applied directly in agronomic work and in the solving of agronomic problems. AND In addition to meeting the basic requirements described above, applicants must also meet additional qualification requirements as stated below. GS-11 Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience performing agronomy, physiology, or breeding research experiments on field crops; preparing and analyzing statistical data; and using and maintaining field and laboratory instruments. OR Education: 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree if directly related. Related degrees may include Agronomy, Plant Breeding, Crop Science, or Plant Physiology. OR A combination of applicable experience and education as described above. Physical Demands: The work often requires prolonged periods of standing and occasional walking, bending, and lifting of laboratory, greenhouse, and field equipment. It requires a high degree of dexterity for handling delicate instruments in the laboratory and greenhouse used in the research. Work Environment: Work requires lifting and carrying materials exceeding 50 pounds (including help of weight bearing equipment). In addition, periods of standing and walking in plowed (often muddy) fields, and frequently engaging in activities requiring bending and stretching are required. Travel by vehicle is required to field sites and further travel may be required to attend meetings. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

Please see above for education qualification requirement information.

Contacts

• Address Agricultural Research Service 141 Experimental Station Road Stoneville, MS 38776 US
• Name: Nelly Wilson
• Phone: (703) 259-9360
• Email: [email protected]