Research Assistant for Darwin Initiative Maya Nut Project

Contract: 22 Month fixed term appointment
Salary: £24,164 per annum plus benefits
Closing date: July 4, 2011

The Natural History Museum is a world leading museum, internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in scientific research and in the presentation of natural history through exhibitions, public programmes, publications and the web.

Working on a prestigious Darwin Initiative funded project to develop tools for the sustainable harvesting of Maya-nut (Brosimum alicastrum) you will be required to assess and analyse the geographical variation within this non timber tropical forest species across Mesoamerica using DNA markers (SNPs, microsatellites or SSRs). Maya-nut tree is a non timber tropical forest food which formed an important part of pre colonial diets in Central America. The forests where they are found
are degraded throughout their Mesoamerica range. Currently there is strong interest in reforestation using this species which would need to maintain in-situ genetic variation so as to maintain the ecological and the social-economic importance of this species.

You will be responsible for generating analysing and preparing results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and so will be expected to be familiar with extracting, amplifying and assembling DNA sequence data and analysing population genetic data using software such as ARLEQUIN, GENETIX, STRUCTURE, GENECLASS2, GENEMAPPER.

An MSc (or equivalent) and proven publication experience is essential for this post. Interviews will be held between July 18 and July 22.

For a full job description and to apply online please visit the Natural History Museum website at www.nhm.ac.uk/jobs