Junior Specialist - Spang Lab

JUNIOR SPECIALIST POSITION DESCRIPTION

NATURE AND PURPOSE

The position of Junior Specialist provides technical or specialized expertise in the planning and execution of research projects. The Junior Specialist stays apprised of the research area and maintains technical competence in the designated area(s) of specialization. The role of this position is to provide specialized expertise in biochemical composition of food and agricultural byproducts in the lab of the Principal Investigators Dr. Edward Spang. The Junior Specialist is actively and significantly engaged in research involving review, collection, and organization of biochemical data on food and agricultural byproducts from the academic literature as part of a project that seeks to understand the quantities, availability, location, and composition of food system byproducts. The Junior Specialist is responsible for conducting quality control and data management procedures for consolidating the data as well as validating the outputs of AI models trained to scrape additional data from the literature. The Junior Specialist will have the opportunity to have creative input into the design of approaches and methods to meet the study objectives. They will also assist with routine day-to-day lab duties including project management, supplies acquisition, and coordinating with other lab members and undergraduate assistants.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

RESEARCH IN SPECIALIZED AREAS (90% effort)

a. The Junior Specialist will use their academic and professional expertise to make scientific contributions to one or more research studies and will contribute to published research. Under the general direction of the Principal Investigator, the Junior Specialist will collaborate with other research personnel to as part of a project that seeks to collect, consolidate, and analyze biochemical composition data for food and agricultural byproducts.

b. The Junior Specialist will review the academic literature for any data on biochemical composition of food/ag byproducts, including but not limited to: total mass flows of byproducts, current commercial uses of byproducts, mass balance of biochemicals in the byproducts, and extraction yields and costs.

c. The Junior Specialist will work be actively engaged in preparing data for, and validating, AI models designed to scrape similar data from the literature and will work with collaborators in the laboratory as well as from other departments at UC Davis.

d. The Junior Specialist will draft tables and figures for presentations, reports, and scientific publications as well as participate in drafting and revising manuscripts as needed.

e. The Junior Specialist will assist with general laboratory tasks, including ordering supplies and other lab maintenance tasks.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND ACTIVITY (10% effort)

a. The Junior Specialist will participate in appropriate professional/technical societies or groups and other educational and research organizations, such as the American Chemical Society or the Institute for Food Technologists, to learn more about the newest advances in food loss and waste, food biochemistry, and/or food science.

b. The Junior Specialist will organize data for grant reports and publications prior to submission and offer technical and creative contributions to manuscript preparation.

c. The Junior Specialist will conduct literature searches for articles relevant to the research topic, engage in discussions of data with the Principal Investigators, and contribute to presentation of research findings and manuscript preparation.

UNIVERSITY AND PUBLIC SERVICE (0% effort)

a. The Junior Specialist is not expected to participate in university or public service.

WORK LOCATION

This employee will work on the 2nd floor in RMI Sensory Building, room 2007.

Per APM 330: it is inappropriate to appoint an individual with a Master's or doctoral degree in the relevant discipline or a baccalaureate degree plus three or more years of experience with the specialized methods as a Junior Specialist.

Bachelor's degree in Food Science & Technology, Chemistry (all types),

Environmental Science, or other related background. Degree must be awarded by start date.

Familiarity with literature review, data collection, and data consolidation.

Evidence of prior research experience.

Evidence of professional competence and activity.

Evidence of strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

Evidence of excellence in communication skills with proficiency in both written and verbal English.

Evidence of ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

Experience in MS Office (word, excel, PowerPoint) or other appropriate computer programs to organize, summarize, and analyze data.

Experience extracting and organizing biochemical composition data from the academic literature.

Familiarity with organizing data for the training and validation of AI modeling.

Familiarity with researching volumetric flows and biochemical composition of agricultural and food processing byproducts.

Familiarity with biochemical extraction processes.

• 2 letters of reference required

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

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