Hey GOATs, we have a part time lab job opening up. It’s location specific (Ann Arbor MI) but thought it’d be worth throwing out to this group, in case you know someone in this area. It’s part time and short term, but we’d love to find someone who’s a good enough fit that they could work into a longer-term position. It’s not building hardware, but it is using it and creating calibration sets to make it useful in the real world. Feel free to pass this along
Lab Tech needed in soil/food quality startup
About the work
We (our-sci.net) need your help running a soil and food testing lab on behalf our customer, the Bionutrient Food Association (bionutrient.org) and their project the Real Food Campaign (https://bionutrient.org/site/real-food-campaign). The lab measures soil and food samples from across the Midwest and Northeast to determine 1) the variation of nutritional density in our fresh produce supply and 2) how that variation relates to soil health and farm practice. In addition, Our Sci is committed to open data and open source technology development in all our work, and we are involved in other like-minded projects like GOSH (openhardware.science/), GOAT (goatech.org), and Yale’s Quick Carbon project (https://www.quickcarbon.org/) among others.
The opportunity
We are looking for a part time (20 - 30 hrs/wk) person to process soil and food samples for the Real Food Campaign. We are a startup that engages in a very diverse set of work, from food and soil testing in the lab, to designing/building/scaling handheld devices (colorimeter, soil respiration sensor, etc.), to web development. You will not only build skills in food and soil sampling and (by osmosis) lots of other work we do, but you will also be part of a broad network of organizations who are passionate and identifying the connections between food, soil and human health.
The work
- Process samples as are they are received in the lab
- Run samples for antioxidants, polyphenols, proteins, and minerals using XRF in food, as well as soil respiration and total organic carbon in soils.
- Track lab samples from intake to storage, and ensure all the resulting data entered correctly.
- Identify ways to improve the lab process and allow us to increase our sample intake rate.
- Coordinating with others in the lab to support the full sample load.
What you bring
- Experienced in lab work (+1 for nutritional or ag lab work), either in other labs or in current or past schooling.
- Careful but speedy, capable of processing large numbers of samples with minimal errors.
- Interest in identifying not only problems with process, but suggesting clever solutions
- Good attitude and flexible schedule.
- Genuine interest in food quality, soil quality, and their impacts on communities.
Employment details
$15 - $17/hr, depending on past experience. (Undergrads ~ $15, grads / real-world lab experience ~$17). This position is funded for 3 months, and could continue depending on our success and future contracts.
Desired Starting Date - July 9th, 2018.
TO APPLY, send a resume and cover letter to admin@our-sci.net, or call 919 545 1083.