Postdoctoral Fellow - Design of ex situ plant collections for conservation The Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) seeks to hire a full-time postdoctoral scholar to work on a project funded by Institute of Museum and Library Services to investigate strategies to conserve intraspecific variation in ex situ collections of imperiled plants. The candidate will 1) identify loci or phenotypic traits that may show signatures of local adaptation using genomic and phenotypic data that was already collected from common garden experiments with North American plant species of conservation concern, 2) design ex situ collections that optimally conserve neutral and adaptive intra-specific variation under real-life constraints (e.g., maximum number of individuals in a collection) by applying multi-objective optimization approaches (e.g., simulated annealing algorithms); 3) determine whether trade-offs exist that limit the ability to represent different forms of intra-specific variation in ex situ collections (e.g., among neutral and adaptive genotypic and phenotypic variation); 4) assist MBG scientists with coordinating grant-funded activities including mentoring students, organizing and participating in outreach events and workshops, and presenting lectures to professional organizations, and 5) prepare and submit manuscripts for publication. The position will be based in St. Louis (MO) and the candidate will work closely with MBG scientists active in conservation genetics, conservation biology, ecology, and horticulture/living collections management and will also actively engage with collaborators and colleagues at MBG and in the broader St. Louis Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation community. Candidates should have completed a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Botany, Genetics, Environmental Science, Conservation Biology, or a related field before the start date. The ideal candidate will have prior experience in several of the following: ex situ sampling techniques, plant phenotyping, quantitative genetics, multi-objective optimization, bioinformatics, statistical analysis of phenotypic or population genomic data, and spatial (e.g., landscape) analysis of phenotypic or genomic data. Review of applications will begin January 27, 2025 and will continue until the position is filled. Ideal start date is spring 2025 (March=AC=96June), but start date is negotiable. The term for this grant-funded position will be up to 2 years, with renewal in the 2nd year contingent on satisfactory performance. Salary will be commensurate with experience, and this position includes a comprehensive benefits package. For more information and to apply: https://jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/mbg/CANDIDATEPORTAL/jobs/3813 Iv=E1n Jim=E9nez Scientist Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development Missouri Botanical Garden P.O. Box 299 St. Louis, MO 63166 Ivan Jimenez (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)