USDA-ARS Postgraduate Fellowship in Bacterial Biofilms in Cattle Farm Environments North

How To Apply

To submit your application, scroll to the bottom of this opportunity and click APPLY.

• An application
• Transcript(s) – For this opportunity, an unofficial transcript or copy of the student academic records printed by the applicant or by academic advisors from internal institution systems may be submitted.  for detailed information about acceptable transcripts.
• A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
• Two educational or professional recommendations

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA-ARS-NEA-

• An application
• Transcript(s) – For this opportunity, an unofficial transcript or copy of the student academic records printed by the applicant or by academic advisors from internal institution systems may be submitted.  for detailed information about acceptable transcripts.
• A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
• Two educational or professional recommendations

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

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5/8/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located in Burlington, Vermont. 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. ARS will deliver cutting‑edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well‑being of all people;

sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

This opportunity, available at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in the Food Systems Research Unit in Burlington, VT, focuses on understanding the dynamics and characterization of environmental bacterial biofilms that promote sanitizer tolerance and dissemination of foodborne pathogens in the beef‑on‑dairy farm environments in the Northeastern US. The unit’s research focuses on assessing the changes needed within supply chains and across agricultural landscapes for food systems to provide animal‑sourced foods in amounts and preparations that support improved nutrition and human health and improved economic, environmental, and social sustainability.

The fellow will have the opportunity to be involved in research that aims to understand the dynamics of biofilm formation, bacterial fitness in those biofilms, and the role of multispecies bacterial biofilms in the farm environment that will aid in identifying strategies to overcome stress resistance shown by pathogenic bacteria present in biofilm niches. The fellow will help test the following hypothesis:
Identification and evaluation of effective strategies to mitigate the formation of biofilms would aid in the implementation of these strategies on small‑to‑mid‑sized cattle farms, thereby reducing the incidence/prevalence of foodborne pathogens in cattle entering the slaughter facilities.

The fellow will gain experience in planning experiments and data collection, enumeration/detection of bacterial groups, screening of biofilm formation, pathogen protection in biofilm, metagenomic shotgun sequencing and analysis, evaluation of decontamination/sanitation strategies in the cattle farm environment and statistical analysis related to the experiments. The ORISE postgraduate fellow will also gain experience in…