Requirements: - Bachelor's degree in microbiology, genetics, molecular/cell biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, chemical engineering or relevant field - 1 year of post Bachelor's degree laboratory research experience including experience with microbiology, molecular and cell biology, and biochemistry techniques. - Experience in aseptic culturing of yeast and/or bacteria. - Specific experience with microbial fermentations, molecular biology techniques and effectively working with others as part of a research team will be advantageous. - Candidates must have flexible schedules to accommodate experimentation that may occur at non-standard times and days.
Job Duties: Successful candidates will work as part of a team within the Microbial Synthetic Biology (MiSynBio) Lab in the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. The central goal of the MiSynBio Lab is to engineer and develop microbial organisms that can effectively and efficiently convert sugars from sustainable and renewable plant biomass into biofuels, which can help relieve the dependence on both domestic and foreign petroleum. The primary responsibilities of this position are to perform and support lab research aimed at investigating new ways to genetically engineer yeast and bacteria for improved cellulosic biofuel production. The research intern will: - Perform high throughput, small scale fermentations with media derived from plant feedstocks. - Perform cutting edge studies to identify plant-derived fermentation inhibitors of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis. - Genetically engineer S. cerevisiae strains for stress tolerance and characterize resulting strains to assess their biofuel production capabilities. - Prepare genomic DNA from engineered yeast strains and perform strain confirmations by molecular biology techniques. - Perform recombinant DNA techniques to genetically engineer yeast for improved fermentation of lignocellulosic sugars; characterize engineered strains for improved properties. - Assist in preparing microbial media, reagents, and supplies as well as assisting in the organization and maintenance of the lab. - Present research progress and results in regularly scheduled meetings.
Begin Date: 3/1/2019
Percent Time: 100%
Salary: $29,500
Contact
Trey Sato
tksato@glbrc.wisc.edu