Biodiversity Lab Coordinator

This position is a part of the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).

This competition is open to all applicants however internal candidates and applicants who were former employees of the University of Alberta in the past 18 months will be given priority consideration before external candidates. Please indicate your internal status using the "Advertisement" drop down menu when applying.

This position has an end date of April 1, 2025.

Location - This is an in-person role with work taking place at North Campus, Edmonton.

Working for the University of Alberta

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.

The University of Alberta is teeming with change makers, community builders, and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to more than 40,000 students in 200+ undergraduate and 500+ graduate programs, over 13,000 faculty and staff, 260,000 alumni worldwide and have been recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for over a decade.

Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross section of people—from our students and stakeholders, to our renowned researchers and innovators who are quite literally curing diseases, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger, and more just.

Working for the Department of Biological Sciences

The Department of Biological Sciences is the largest and one of the most diverse on campus in terms of the research interests of its academic staff. The department currently has 59 professors, 29 adjunct professors and 31 professors emeritus along with a graduate student population of 224 and 40 departmental support staff. Over 95% of the academic staff in the department have NSERC or CIHR funding, with the average grant monies being in excess of $200,000 per investigator.

Position Summary

The University of Alberta Vascular Plant Herbarium is a research and teaching resource for the study of evolution, diversity, distribution and ecology of cordilleran, prairie, arctic and alpine plants. It is the largest herbarium of its kind in Alberta and the third largest in Western Canada. Founded in 1912, the Vascular Plant Herbarium holds more than 140,000 specimens dating from 1835 to the present and is built upon the collecting activities of faculty members and students, as well as the acquisition of outstanding amateur collections.

This position supports the Herbarium through a number of activities including: curating plant specimens, training users of the collection, managing the herbarium budget in consultation with the curators, coordinating the teaching collection for use in multiple classes, and training and supervising summer students.

Additional duties have been added to this position to support teaching laboratory technical preparation and set up, coordination and mentoring of graduate teaching assistants, management of living and preserved organisms,  and developing and maintaining laboratory resources.

This position also plays a key role in liaising with the Plant Growth Facilities Operator/Horticulturalist to ensure plants are cultivated on time for teaching. This position also works closely with the Science Animal Support Services team on the maintenance of marine invertebrates.

Duties

CURATORIAL DUTIES (30%)

• Curate plant specimens by integrating new specimens into collection, mounting specimens, filing specimens, repairing specimens, general specimen maintenance
• Integrated pest management including monitoring insect traps, treatment of affected specimens, conservation and/or repair damaged specimens, and maintaining digital records in database on management
• Research, follow, and implement best practices of collection management
• Databasing specimens (in collaboration of UoA Museums) including georeferencing and imaging
• Ensure users of collection are properly trained and supervised
• Prepare, package, ship and receive loans and duplicate materials to and from other herbaria and botanical institutions
• Maintain record of herbarium activities, including acquisitions, accessioning, loans, exchange, and databasing
• Facilitate requests for herbarium material and data
• Coordination of teaching collection for use in classes (e.g., BOT 205, BIOL 321, BOT 411)
• Coordination of volunteers including recruiting, registering, training, supervising, and reporting
• Ensuring herbarium open regular hours for users
• Managing herbarium budget with curator(s)
• Prepare and provide tours as needed (e.g., UoA Ambassadors, courses) and helping prepare for events outside normal working hours (e.g., Alberta Native Plant Society talks, Humanities 101)
• Writing applications for grants, summer student funding, capital equipment, etc.
• Training and supervision of summer students
• Research and update plant nomenclature
• Maintain up to date standard operating procedures
• Annotating specimens to correct identification or to accepted nomenclature; and, updating the data-base as necessary
• Submit annual report on Vascular Plant Herbarium to Curator

UNDERGRADUATE LAB COORDINATOR DUTIES (60%)

• Coordination of living and preserved organisms
• Obtain live and preserved plant and invertebrate specimens for undergraduate teaching laboratories
• Handle and care for living plant and invertebrate specimens (including live insects) for duration of their presence in undergraduate teaching laboratories and prep rooms
• Maintain cultures of living freshwater invertebrates throughout year
• Liaise with Science Animal Support Services (SASS) for maintenance of marine invertebrates liaise with Plant Growth Facilities Horticulturist for timely production of plants
• Euthanizing certain invertebrates (e.g., earthworms) prior to dissection exercises; euthanizing demonstration invertebrates that are clearly moribund.
• Manage and maintain living plants, fungi and algal cultures
• Ensure that preserved invertebrate material is maintained in good condition, including topping up with ethanol when needed
• Laboratory technical preparation and setup
• Prepare reagents and other materials
• Set up and take down materials required for each laboratory exercise
• Maintain written and pictorial database of specimen layouts for laboratory exercises and demonstrations, including dated documentation of any changes in materials or locations
• Maintain all laboratory equipment in good working order.  For specialized equipment, arrange for professional service and repair.
• Mentoring of graduate teaching assistants
• Responsible for TA training, including but not limited to (1) ensuring completion of all required environment, health and safety training modules, including first aid as required; (2) developing and delivering prelab meetings, including providing documentation to TAs and training TAs; (3) providing TAs with guidance on lab assessment evaluations
• Be available for consultation during labs in progress to evaluate and try to resolve potential  issues that have arisen
• Assist TAs with addressing student issues and student concerns if TA requests assistance; address student concerns and issues when these are escalated by either a student or TA; escalate to course coordinator as required.
• Assist in organizing, posting and managing eClass content pertinent to the laboratory component of courses
• Assist in meeting student accommodations and adaptations for the laboratory component of the course
• Provide feedback to TAs; proactively share concerns about TAs to course instructor(s)
• Contribute to TA nominations for teaching awards and letters of commendation
• Developing and maintaining of laboratory resources
• Assist course instructor(s) with preparing lab manual
• Training and supervising summer students
• Develop and maintain inventories of laboratory equipment, materials and supplies
• Develop documentation for effective delivery of lab exercises
• Develop digital laboratory resources such as images
• Prepare course budgets and equipment requests
• Proctor lecture midterm and final exams
• Assist with marking lecture exams as needed under the supervision of course instructor(s)
• Ensure that electronic resources for laboratory component of courses are uploaded to shared Google drives, and updated as necessary

ADMINISTRATION, HEALTH AND SAFETY (10%)

• Liaise with departmental, faculty and university personnel to ensure compliance with all applicable health and safety policies and guidelines, including waste disposal
• Purchase reagents, supplies, and biological materials
• Maintain ARISE database for Herbarium and teaching labs

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum BSc in diversity-related Biological Sciences program, with a broad knowledge of biodiversity, including plants and ideally also fungi, algae and invertebrates; M.Sc. desirable
• Plant identification skills
• Demonstrated knowledge of plant nomenclature and systematics
• Experience in plant propagation highly desirable
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft and Google applications essential
• Demonstrated skills with compound and dissecting microscopes required
• Demonstrated familiarity with sterile technique required
• Experience in the use of standard laboratory equipment essential
• Strong oral and written communication skills essential
• Professional writing with experience writing grant applications and standard operating procedures

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with eClass considered an asset
• Familiarity with database use, including data entry and query, considered an asset
• Familiarity with workplace environment, health and safety best practices essential

At the University of Alberta, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible hiring process for all candidates. If you require accommodations to participate in the interview process, please let us know at the time of booking your interview and we will make every effort to accommodate your needs.

Note: Online applications are accepted until midnight Mountain Standard Time of the closing date.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted.