Biodiversity Lab Coordinator Jobs

Biodiversity Lab Coordinator - Competition No. S106151753 Careers > Science > Admin, Financial, Research > S106151753 Biodiversity Lab CoordinatorSCI Biological Sciences Competition No. - S106151753 Posting Date - Aug 31, 2023 Closing Date - Sep 13, 2023 Position Type - Full Time - Operating Funded Salary Range - $51,821 to $70,382 per year Grade - 08 Hours - 35
This position is a part of the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).
This position offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed at: Faculty & Staff Benefits .
Location - North campus
Working for the University of Alberta
The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.
The University of Alberta is teeming with change makers, community builders, and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to more than 40,000 students in 200+ undergraduate and 500+ graduate programs, over 13,000 faculty and staff, 260,000 alumni worldwide and have been recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for over a decade.
Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross section of people—from our students and stakeholders, to our renowned researchers and innovators who are quite literally curing diseases, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger, and more just.
Department Summary
The Department of Biological Sciences is the largest and one of the most diverse on campus in terms of the research interests of its academic staff. The department currently has 59 professors, 29 adjunct professors and 31 professors emeritus along with a graduate student population of 224 and 40 departmental support staff. Over 95% of the academic staff in the department have NSERC or CIHR funding, with the average grant monies being in excess of $200,000 per investigator.
Position Summary
The University of Alberta Vascular Plant Herbarium is a research and teaching resource for the study of evolution, diversity, distribution and ecology of cordilleran, prairie, arctic and alpine plants. It is the largest herbarium of its kind in Alberta and the third largest in Western Canada. Founded in 1912, the Vascular Plant Herbarium holds more than 140,000 specimens dating from 1835 to the present and is built upon the collecting activities of faculty members and students, as well as the acquisition of outstanding amateur collections.
This position supports the Herbarium through a number of activities including: curating plant specimens, training users of the collection, managing the herbarium budget in consultation with the curators, coordinating the teaching collection for use in multiple classes, and training and supervising summer students.
Additional duties have been added to this position to support teaching laboratory technical preparation and set up, coordination and mentoring of graduate teaching assistants, management of living and preserved organisms, and developing and maintaining laboratory resources.
This position also plays a key role in liaising with the Plant Growth Facilities Operator/Horticulturalist to ensure plants are cultivated on time for teaching. This position also works closely with the Science Animal Support Services team on the maintenance of marine invertebrates.
Duties
CURATORIAL DUTIES (30%)

• Maintain record of herbarium activities, including acquisitions, accessioning, loans, exchange, and databasing
• Coordination of volunteers including recruiting, registering, training, supervising, and reporting
• Integrated pest management including monitoring insect traps, treatment of affected specimens, conservation and/or repair damaged specimens, and maintaining digital records in database on management
• Research and update plant nomenclature
• Submit annual report on Vascular Plant Herbarium to Curator
• Maintain up to date standard operating procedures
• Ensure users of collection are properly trained and supervised
• Training and supervision of summer students
• Research, follow, and implement best practices of collection management
• Coordination of teaching collection for use in classes (e.g., BOT 205, BIOL 321, BOT 411)
• Prepare and provide tours as needed (e.g., UoA Ambassadors, courses) and helping prepare for events outside normal working hours (e.g., Alberta Native Plant Society talks, Humanities 101)
• Writing applications for grants, summer student funding, capital equipment, etc.
• Databasing specimens (in collaboration of UoA Museums) including georeferencing and imaging
• Annotating specimens to correct identification or to accepted nomenclature; and, updating the data-base as necessary
• Facilitate requests for herbarium material and data
• Curate plant specimens by integrating new specimens into collection, mounting specimens, filing specimens, repairing specimens, general specimen maintenance
• Managing herbarium budget with curator(s)
• Prepare, package, ship and receive loans and duplicate materials to and from other herbaria and botanical institutions
• Ensuring herbarium open regular hours for users

UNDERGRADUATE LAB COORDINATOR DUTIES (60%)
Coordination of living and preserved organisms

• Handle and care for living plant and invertebrate specimens (including live insects) for duration of their presence in undergraduate teaching laboratories and prep rooms
• Obtain live and preserved plant and invertebrate specimens for undergraduate teaching laboratories
• Liaise with Science Animal Support Services (SASS) for maintenance of marine invertebrates liaise with Plant Growth Facilities Horticulturist for timely production of plants
• Maintain cultures of living freshwater invertebrates throughout year
• Euthanizing certain invertebrates (e.g., earthworms) prior to dissection exercises; euthanizing demonstration invertebrates that are clearly moribund.
• Manage and maintain living plants, fungi and algal cultures
• Ensure that preserved invertebrate material is maintained in good condition, including topping up with ethanol when needed

Laboratory technical preparation and setup

• Prepare reagents and other materials
• Maintain written and pictorial database of specimen layouts for laboratory exercises and demonstrations, including dated documentation of any changes in materials or locations
• Maintain all laboratory equipment in good working order. For specialized equipment, arrange for professional service and repair.
• Set up and take down materials required for each laboratory exercise

Mentoring of graduate teaching assistants

• Assist in organizing, posting and managing eClass content pertinent to the laboratory component of courses
• Assist TAs with addressing student issues and student concerns if TA requests assistance; address student concerns and issues when these are escalated by either a student or TA; escalate to course coordinator as required.
• Responsible for TA training, including but not limited to (1) ensuring completion of all required environment, health and safety training modules, including first aid as required; (2) developing and delivering prelab meetings, including providing documentation to TAs and training TAs; (3) providing TAs with guidance on lab assessment evaluations
• Assist in meeting student accommodations and adaptations for the laboratory component of the course
• Be available for consultation during labs in progress to evaluate and try to resolve potential issues that have arisen
• Provide feedback to TAs; proactively share concerns about TAs to course instructor(s)
• Contribute to TA nominations for teaching awards and letters of commendation

Developing and maintaining of laboratory resources

• Proctor lecture midterm and final exams
• Develop and maintain inventories of laboratory equipment, materials and supplies
• Develop documentation for effective delivery of lab exercises
• Develop digital laboratory resources such as images
• Training and supervising summer students
• Assist with marking lecture exams as needed under the supervision of course instructor(s)
• Ensure that electronic resources for laboratory component of courses are uploaded to shared Google drives, and updated as necessary
• Assist course instructor(s) with preparing lab manual
• Prepare course budgets and equipment requests

ADMINISTRATION, HEALTH AND SAFETY (10%)

• Liaise with departmental, faculty and university personnel to ensure compliance with all applicable health and safety policies and guidelines, including waste disposal
• Purchase reagents, supplies, and biological materials
• Maintain ARISE database for Herbarium and teaching labs

Minimum Qualifications

• Plant identification skills
• Demonstrated skills with compound and dissecting microscopes required
• Demonstrated knowledge of plant nomenclature and systematics
• Professional writing with experience writing grant applications and standard operating procedures
• Demonstrated familiarity with sterile technique required
• Experience in plant propagation highly desirable
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft and Google applications essential
• Experience in the use of standard laboratory equipment essential
• Minimum BSc in diversity-related Biological Sciences program, with a broad knowledge of biodiversity, including plants and ideally also fungi, algae and invertebrates; M.Sc. desirable
• Strong oral and written communication skills essential

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with workplace environment, health and safety best practices essential
• Familiarity with eClass considered an asset
• Familiarity with database use, including data entry and query, considered an asset

How to Apply
Apply Online
Note: Online applications are accepted until midnight Mountain Standard Time of the closing date.
We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted.
The University of Alberta is committed to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workforce. We welcome applications from all qualified persons. We encourage women; First Nations, Métis and Inuit persons; members of visible minority groups; persons with disabilities; persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity and expression; and all those who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas and the University to apply.