Junior Specialist​/Swett lab

Position Overview

Salary range: $55,000 at Step 1 or $58,600 at Step 2.

Open date:
January 13, 2026

Next review date:
Thursday, Jan 29, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date:
Wednesday, Apr 15, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Major Responsibilities and Designated Areas of Expertise

Junior Specialists in the Swett lab are expected to have an interest in sustainable agriculture, plant health management, fungal evolution and ecology, extension, disease diagnostics, or a related field. The incumbent must be a motivated, organized, and independently driven individual who can work and collaborate with members of the lab in a professional manner. They must therefore have excellent organization skills, including abilities for short‑term and long‑term time management.

As a contributor to research projects, the incumbent is expected to contribute to scholarly manuscripts, outreach publications and reports, and present work at local, statewide and national meetings. Work will be conducted in the lab, in campus greenhouses, field research stations on and off campus, and on commercial farms. Crop foci include tomato, garlic, and onion, although some research projects encompass a wide range of allied rotation crops.

The Swett lab is a supportive community strongly committed to mentoring, and aims to position Junior specialists to be competitive for diverse career tracks or to graduate programs; career mentoring is included as part of this position.

• Assist the PI in discovery and documentation of new pathogens through analyses of unknown diseases present in vegetable and field crops in California, pathogen characterization (molecular identification and Koch's postulates), and preparation of outreach articles for trade journals and first reports for publication in peer‑reviewed journals.
• Assist the PI and research cooperators in development and establishment of field trials (experimental design, study set‑up), data collection, quantitative microbial risk assessment analyses, data analysis and interpretation.
• Contribute to resulting reports, grant proposals, outreach articles for trade journals, and scholarly manuscripts for peer‑reviewed journals.
• Under PI supervision, develop and conduct laboratory and greenhouse trials to test hypotheses relating to fungal pathogen ecology, evolution, and management through design, study installation, data collection and analysis, and preparation of scholarly manuscripts and reports‑either relevant sections, or entire manuscripts, based on the extent of the contribution.
• Project development will involve active engagement of literature in project development and interpretation beyond that expected in a purely technical capacity, for hypothesis development, development and optimization of protocols, and development of introductory and discussion material in the preparation of manuscripts and reports.
• As a full‑time lab member, this position includes responsibility for maintaining safety standards and meeting regulatory requirements, staff training and mentoring (undergraduate student technicians), and general laboratory maintenance.

• Present research at both statewide outreach meetings, regional plant pathology meetings (e.g. Soil Borne Pathogens Conference, American Phytopathological Society, Pacific Division) and national meetings (e.g. American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting). Presentations will be delivered in poster and oral formats. Opportunities to develop presentation abilities in laboratory meetings and the UC Davis plant pathology department retreat and other local (on‑campus) events.
• Encouraged to have membership with the American Phytopathological Society, Pacific Division and national.

• Help serve critical disease diagnosis needs for crop producers as well as for research projects. These diagnosis services are conducted…