NC State University
Department of Plant Pathology
Post-doctoral Associate – Bioserveillance and Diagnostics of Phytophthora infestans in East Africa
Starting September 15, 2014 (start date flexible)
The Department of Plant Pathology at NC State University in Raleigh is hiring a full-time
postdoctoral associate beginning in the fall of 2014. The postdoctoral associate will work on a project
on potato late blight in East Africa. The postdoctoral associate will develop and deploy novel
pathogen diagnostic tools and a disease early warning system to detect P. infestans. The research
will empower women farmers in Africa by helping them to monitor, track and alert others to the
presence of high risk pathogens and suggest control methods to mitigate their impacts.
The postdoctoral fellow will work on several aspects of this project including 1) the development of
the novel diagnostic assays specific for Phytophthora infestans; 2) Deploy the bioassay in the field
in East Africa; 3) Test for the presence of P. infestans in seed tubers in potato in NC and East Africa;
4) Develop a virtual APP for late blight on smartphones and crowd source the data collected into a
cloud computing database and then map outbreaks back to a disease biosurveillance and early
warning system for late blight Africa.
During their training, the postdoctoral associate will receive close mentoring from the program
faculty. They will attend seminars and meetings, present their research at national research
conferences, write papers, and hone their skills in specific methodological techniques. In addition,
the postdoctoral associate will gain practical experience by helping to plan and run a large research
project and by supervising graduate and undergraduate student research assistants.
Qualifications: PhD degree with expertise in plant pathology, ecology, and or population genetics of
fungal pathogens is required. Experience with evolutionary and population gentics and diagnostics of
fuingal plant pathogens or related organisms. Field experience with smallholder farmers in East
Africa is necessary. Experience with development of APPs for smartphones is desired. Tge ability to
travel to East Africa is required.
Successful applicants from a variety of disciplines (e.g., plant pathology, plant biology ecology,
evolutionary biology or genetics) are encouraged to apply. Applicants must have a good command
of qualitative and/or quantitative methods used in the population genetics and ecology. Finally,
applicants must have received their doctoral degree by the start date. The fellowship includes a
competitive salary and plus health insurance.
To Apply: An application at the NC State employment website is required (position number
00104130) . A letter of interest, curriculum vitae, three letters of reference and two publications or
papers should be submitted by email by August 15, 2014. Your letter of interest must detail how your
skills and interests match specific opportunities provided by the post-doctoral fellowship. Please
direct inquiries to Dr. Jean Ristaino jean_ristaino@ncsu.edu
NC State University is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity and
strongly encourages applications from all qualified applicants, including women and minorities.