Research Associate Temp

What if nature could be harnessed to help farmers sustainably feed the planet? Since 2014, Indigo has questioned agriculture's full value chain to improve grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health. The company’s scientific discoveries and digital innovations have amplified new value from soil to sale, benefiting more than 10,000 growers to date. Indigo is also the company behind The Terraton Initiative, a global effort to drawdown one trillion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide by unlocking the potential of agricultural soils. In 2019, Indigo was ranked #1 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list. Headquartered in Boston, MA, Indigo has additional offices in Memphis, TN; Research Triangle Park, NC; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Basel, Switzerland; and São Paulo, Brazil. 

The Research Associate - Biotic Screening will be responsible for organizing and performing assays to measure the efficacy of our microbes against various bacterial and fungal plant pathogens. Day-to-day activities include maintaining our pathogen collection and isolating new isolates from infected plant material. Preparing and optimizing pathogen inoculum. Creation, collection and curation of quality phenotypic data enabling product advancement decisions. Development of novel assays to efficiently identify effective microbes while ensuring biological relevance. Working across functions to coordinate the necessary up- and downstream processes required for a successful testing pipeline.   

Responsibilities:

• Make solutions and media necessary for growing healthy microbes and plants
• Organize screening activities to optimize throughput and data quality
• Collect and handle phenotypic data to support the capture of IP
• Work closely with the Disease team lead to develop and implement new assays
• Enable success of fellow research assistants through active mentoring and skill sharing
• Ensure compliance to all local, state, and federal regulations regarding the handling and devitalization of plant pests and other regulated microbes
• Participate in and contribute to our strong commitment to safety
• Understand and demonstrate Indigo’s Purpose and Core Values daily 

Competencies:

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to manage more than one workstream at a time
• Ability to work efficiently across functions and with diverse teams of collaborators spanning disciplines and geographies
• Critical thinking. Attention to detail and precise record keeping
• Ability to characterize plants and optimize phenotyping processes
• Ability to work independently and efficiently across functions
• Ability to maintain data integrity while automating simple data handling tasks
• Ability to follow SOPs

Qualifications:

• Minimum of Bachelor’s degree with 1-2 years of experience required in plant or microbiology
• Experience in plant biology research and handling research data, required
• Ability to safely lift 50 lbs and work in high humidity/temperature conditions, required
• Minimal weekend work, required
• Experience in plant phenotyping and plant pathology, strongly preferred

Indigo is committed to living our values, specifically “creating a work environment where everyone feels respected, connected, and has opportunities to learn and grow.” As part of living our values, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone feels they can be themselves and has an equal opportunity of succeeding.