The Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory seeks a postdoctoral researcher in the field of microbial metabolism

The Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory seeks a postdoctoral researcher in the field of microbial metabolism to work as part of a larger team on several related projects intended to better understand carbohydrate anabolism and catabolism in soil organisms and the environment. This research theme, supported by grants from the US Department of Agriculture, the Keck Research Foundation, and the Grantham Foundation, engages several units across campus, including the NREL, the Ecosystem Science and Sustainability department, the Materials and Molecular Analysis Center (part of the CSU Analytical Resources Core), the department of Chemistry, the WM Keck Metabolism Collective and others.

The primary goal of this position is to isolate and identify soil microorganisms capable of novel carbohydrate anabolism and catabolism and to understand how and why these microorganisms carry out these functions. To that end, the researcher will (1) use analytical platforms for understanding and characterizing the metabolic pathways by which rare carbohydrates are synthesized and consumed with the goal of (2) functionally characterizing these organisms, processes, enzymes, and genes.

This position is initially for one year with the potential for a one- to two-year extension based on performance.