Research Associate - Plant Molecular Physiology

Living Carbon is a public benefit corporation with a mission to responsibly rebalance the planet’s carbon cycle using the inherent power of plants. We believe that gigaton scale CO2 drawdown will only happen if solutions are both beneficial to the environment and profitable to landowners. We’ve developed photosynthesis-enhanced seedlings that capture carbon faster on underperforming and degraded land. In addition to improving carbon capture rates we are also working on extending the durability of nature based sequestration. We’re backed by some of the most prominent investors in Silicon Valley including Felicis Ventures, YCombinator, and Chris Sacca of LowerCarbon Capital.

If you believe that climate change is the defining global emergency of the century and want to join an ambitious project that’s working on a biological solution, we’d love to hear from you.

Your role:

We’re looking for a creative and detail-oriented Research Associate who has plant molecular physiology background to support and grow projects in the Trait & Tech Discovery group. This role requires solid knowledge and skills on plant molecular and physiological analysis. Hands-on experience on plant tissue collection, DNA extraction & purification, PCR, Molecular cloning, Arabidopsis transformation, transformant phenotyping are highly desirable. Working experience in plant nutrition, transporters, heavy metal metabolism, phytoremediation, hydroponic culture, or ICP-MS based plant sample preparation and mineral analysis will be strongly desired. The successful candidate will be a proactive, adaptive, and strongly lab-based individual contributor as well as a collaborative team player that works well with colleagues. The candidate will contribute to key discovery projects that will have direct impacts on the success of our biotech programs to advance company goals.

Your responsibilities:

• Collect plant tissues for mineral analysis
• Perform genomic DNA extraction from plants
• Perform standard PCR, molecular cloning, and assemble novel plasmid constructs
• Perform Standard E. Coli transformation and plasmid DNA extraction
• Perform Arabidopsis transformation with agrobacterium and agar plate-based transgenic screening
• Perform transgenic Arabidopsis phenotyping on agar medium with modified nutrient receipts
• Accurately document experimental protocols, perform analysis, and help with interpretation of data, and timely report key findings to supervisor and research team
• Proficiency in working with basic bioinformatic tools including various DNA analysis software programs such as Genious, SnapGene or equivalent, and with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) 

Requirements and qualifications:

• BS in Plant biology, Molecular Biology, Biology, Genetics, Biochemistry, or other related fields with 2 or more years of biotechnology experience in industry or academia. Or MS in the above-mentioned fields with 0-2 year working experience
• Technical proficiency in general laboratory practices, including chemical reagents preparation, pH measurement, media preparation, aseptic technique, safety practices, etc.
• Experience in genomic DNA and total RNA isolation from plant tissues
• Proficiency in routine PCR & Gel analysis
• Experience with molecular cloning, including plasmid DNA construction, transformation, and isolation including mini- and maxi-prepping procedures
• Knowledge in DNA analysis software for sequence alignment, comparison, and vector map construction
• Strong organizational and documentation skills
• Ability to manage several projects simultaneously
• Effective communication (written/verbal) and ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team are critical
• Self-starter who can operate with minimal supervision
• Experience in plant nutrition, transporters, heavy metal metabolism, and phytoremediation will be a plus
• Experience with plant hydroponic culture will be a plus
• Experience with ICP-MS based plant sample preparation and mineral analysis will be strongly desired

Living Carbon PBC offers competitive compensation, and generous healthcare, dental and vision insurance.

Living Carbon PBC is an equal opportunity employer.

We believe the best solutions to climate change are created by diverse teams. Living Carbon is focused on building a multicultural and inclusive team with strong representation from the many diverse communities disproportionately impacted by climate change. As a public benefit corporation, ensuring solutions to slow climate change are widely distributed to all peoples is critical to the success of our mission.