ARS Office/Lab and Location: A postdoctoral research opportunity is available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit (GCPRU) located in Urbana, Illinois. 

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. Within USDA-ARS, the mission of the Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit (GCPRU) is to identify factors affecting food and bioenergy crops, with emphasis on global environmental change, and utilize this information to solve emerging agronomic problems.  

Research Project: Within GCPRU, the goal of the Marty Williams Lab is to develop knowledge, models, and decision tools that ultimately reduce the risk that climate change and weeds pose to food production systems.  The lab utilizes an array of experimental approaches at various spatial and temporal scales, all aimed at building resilience in crop management systems.  The over-arching objectives of this project are to 1) improve the understanding of the influence of climate variability on crop and weed management outcomes, and 2) explore the integration of new chemical and non-chemical tactics for managing weeds in Midwest grain and/or specialty crops. Research activities include: 1) conducting original crop or weed research, 2) conducting field-, greenhouse- or laboratory-based assays, as needed, 3) organizing and analyzing data, 4) presenting research results, and 5) writing manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals.

Learning Objectives: Under the guidance of a mentor, the learning objectives are to 1) develop new knowledge of crop/weed ecology essential to the development of novel weed management tactics, and 2) contribute towards development of cropping systems which are sustainable, profitable, and resilient to climate change.

The candidate will participate in and present research at lab and GCPRU meetings.  The candidate also will have opportunities to participate in outreach through interactions with the University of Illinois and at professional conferences.

PhD in agronomy, crop science, horticulture, or related field