Greenhouse Research Assistant (3 positions available)
Supervisor: Dr. Cameron Proctor
The purpose of the Greenhouse Research Assistant position(s) are to conduct high spatial-temporal surveys of plant physiology within research and commercial greenhouses to help growers achieve ideal growth conditions, maximum yields, and identify stress factors. Plant physiology measurements will be collected using an LI-600 Porometer/Fluorometer that takes high-throughput stomatal conductance and chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements and environmental factors such as leaf angle, relative humidity, photosynthetically active radiation, and the sample GPS location. Surveys will be conducted at both the research greenhouse of Dr. Proctor in relation to long-term experiments on minimizing the impacts of agricultural practices on the environment, and JEM farms, a commercial cucumber and tomato producer in Leamington.
Key Duties:
- understand the principals behind the LI-600 measurements, their importance, and collect data as consistently as possible to create high-quality data sets
- manage the day-to-day activities of a research greenhouse (e.g., propagation, care, growth, and measurement of various crops, plant watering, pest management, equipment maintenance, sample collection, etc.)
Tasks:
- collect LI-600 measurements as per standard operating procedures - coordinate with research and commercial growers and respond to their data acquisition needs
- coordinate data collection as a team and ensure its proper organization and storage
- communicate findings to partners and the general public
Students will develop competencies in several areas, including:
1. Communication skills. Students will summarize the data collected for presentation to various audiences, including monthly reports to JEM farms, a summary presentation to JEM farms about their findings, and to their peers at the UWill Conference. Students will be trained in creating graphics in R.
2. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving skills. Students will evaluate a large volume of data to identify areas of plant stress and to seek out possible explanations. Upon discovery of plant stress, students will need to judge and develop alternative sampling strategies to quantify its spatial-temporal bounds and determine whether stress is due to genetic, environmental, or treatment factors.
3. Teamwork. Students will work as a team to collect data and share their findings in order to maximize the utility of the data collection. Students will meet bi-weekly with Dr. Proctor.
To Apply visit mySuccess (success.uwindsor.ca) and submit an application. Applications due by January 31st, 2025.
Please note that the posting will go live Jan 1, 2025.