A graduate research assistantship (Ph. D.) is available for the Spring semester, 2009 in the School of Plant, Environmental, & Soil Science at Louisiana State University (LSU). The graduate research assistant will be required to conduct comparative genetic/genomic research on different coastal wetland plants to improve their abiotic stress tolerance and phytoremediation ability by deploying genomics, molecular biology, and genetic engineering approaches. We have isolated genes involved in salt and heavy metal stress tolerance pathways from Spartina alterniflora, a coastal wetland grass. The graduate research assistant will also be involved in the ongoing collaborative project on translational genomics to understanding the molecular basis of salt tolerance of S. alterniflora in model plant systems (Functional and Integrative Genomics 2008, 8:287-300; Plant Science 2006, 170:1141-1149).

Applicants must be highly motivated and should have research experience in plant genomics, molecular biology, and/or genetics. Experience in genetic transformation of Arabidopsis, tobacco, or rice will be a plus. The flexibility to work independently as well as a team member, and good communication and writing skills are required.

Prospective candidates should contact Niranjan Baisakh, Ph. D., Assistant Professor-Research (Email: nbaisakh@agctr.lsu.edu; Tel: +1 2255781300; Fax: +1 2255781403) with a cover letter highlighting research experience and interests, recent curriculum vitae, three recommendation letters (sent directly from the references), and GRE and TOEFL (for candidates whose native language is not English) scores.

All interested applicants are encouraged to visit the LSU Graduate School website http://appl003.lsu.edu/grad/gradschool.nsf/index to prepare an application package. EEO.