Question Postdoc position in plant bug evolution

The Bond Lab at the University of California, Davis and the Forthman Lab at the California Department of Food and Agriculture welcome applications for a postdoctoral researcher to focus on a collaborative phylogenomic project of the megadiverse plant bugs (Miridae). The successful candidate will work with a multi-institutional team of researchers, involving the Bond and Forthman Labs, as well as the Weirauch Lab at the University of California, Riverside (lead project institution). The candidate will work with the research team to study the evolution of Miridae, a megadiverse and understudied insect family known as plant bugs. While most plant bugs are phytophagous with a limited host plant range, the group also includes predatory, mycetophagous, and zoophytophagous lineages, making this group economically important as crop pests and beneficial predatory insects. Plant bugs are extremely speciose in Mediterranean-type regions, including the California Floristic Province biodiversity hotspot. Despite a substantial biodiversity dataset generated for plant bugs through past NSF-funding, its current utility is hindered by the absence of robustly supported phylogenetic hypotheses, limiting exploration of biogeographic history and host plant evolution.The postdoc will take the lead on sequence capture and processing, as well as phylogenomic analyses, to generate a worldwide phylogeny of plant bugs and investigate biogeographic history and diet and host plant evolution. Postdoc mentoring will balance research, publications, presentations, grantsmanship, teaching, and outreach. The successful candidate will gain field experience, expertise in mirid systematics, NGS and bioinformatics skills, and expertise with phylogenetic and downstream analyses (e.g., divergence dating, biogeography, phylogenetic diversity). The candidate will be involved in mentoring students, teaching a course-based undergraduate research experience class, and co-instructing a True Bug Short Course.Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in evolutionary biology, entomology, or a related field
• Have demonstrated background in systematics with preference for insect systematics
• Have demonstrated skills in phylogenomic approaches from wet-lab procedures to bioinformatics
• Show skills in data analysis and scientific writing
• Show strong leadership qualities and excellent communication skills
• Work well in a team setting across multiple laboratories
• Have experience with mentoring students and interest in outreach activities

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience generating and analyzing UCE datasets
• Experience conducting field work

=11ptFor additional details regarding the project, application materials, and application submission, see recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF06359 =11pt. Questions can be directed to Dr. Michael Forthman (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.=11pt) and/or Jason Bond (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.=11pt).