Research Lab Technician - Hamilton, Canada - McMaster University

McMaster University

Verified Company

Hamilton, Canada

4 weeks ago

Posted by:

Sophia Lee

beBee Recruiter

Description

Schedule
Monday to Friday; 8:30am - 5:00pm

Education Level
3 year Community College diploma in a relevant field of study.

Career Level
Requires 2 years of relevant experience.

This position requires specialized knowledge of and skills in aquatic sciences research to support multi-year ecotoxicology research with university and government partners.

Coordination and delivery of the specifics of these programs requires someone with a diverse mix of expertise - a combination of specialized processing and analyses of biological samples collected from rivers and lakes, biological data analyses and modeling, and aquatic field work with occasional but prolonged trips to remote locations to collect biological samples.

The skills needed in this position include demonstrated competencies in:

freshwater fish and macroinvertebrate identifications including sorting samples under a microscope to order or family level; database management, statistical analyses and graphing of complex biological and physical data using R; field collections of fish, macroinvertebrates, and water quality samples and data entry and management to ensure comparable data across sites, times and projects; and an ability to be in remote locations for 2-3 weeks at a time.

Job Summary:

The Research Laboratory Technician (II) is responsible for providing research support to faculty members in their research and teaching laboratory activities.

This support includes performing laboratory experiments that are established and relatively standardized and conducting literature searches for use in publications such as journal articles or papers.

Performs a range of assignments under close supervision.

Purpose and Key Functions:

Perform various invitro and invivo procedures in a specialized area or science that are established and relatively standardized.
Liaise with other laboratories, external departments, and agencies to coordinate resources and schedules to meet research objectives.
Recognize and investigate apparent reasons for obvious deviations in results obtained.
Write a variety of documents such as technical and procedural sections for research reports and standard operating procedures.
Observe details and maintain accurate records of experiments and results.
Log samples and related pertinent information.
Gather and compile experimental results and assist in the preparation of data for reports and publications.
Use software to conduct routine statistical analyses.
Exchange technical and scientific information with others.
Provide updates at research group meetings.
Responsible for keeping laboratory facilities, equipment, and area in clean, safe working order.
Assemble and adjust tests and laboratory equipment for experiments and procedures.
Operate, adjust, and maintain a variety of laboratory equipment and scientific instruments.
Ensure adequate supplies are available for experiments.
Schedule laboratory equipment for use.
Demonstrate and train others on experimental techniques and the operation of laboratory equipment.
Prepare chemical reagents and biomedical media according to formulae and assume responsibility for accuracy in the preparation and standardization of solutions.
Pipette a variety of reagents and media.
Monitor supplies and order inventories.
Responsible for the proper storage of materials and the appropriate disposal of waste.
Adhere to standardized procedures and protocols when dispensing chemicals and base media.
Input, maintain, and verify information in a variety of databases and spreadsheets.
Conduct literature searches.

Supervision:

No formal supervision of others is required.
Provide orientation and show procedures to others.

Requirements:

3 year Community College diploma in a relevant field of study.
Requires 2 years of relevant experience.

Assets:

Assets include experience communicating science to diverse audiences through reports, presentations, etc.; demonstrated abilities to manage projects; and coordinating and conducting field work safely and competently in remote locations.

Additional Information:

This position is working in an ecotoxicology lab on a diverse range of projects and programs and requires skills needed to conduct aquatic sciences and ecotoxicology research.

This position needs someone with considerable experience doing field work on freshwater ecosystems to collect fish, macroinvertebrates and water quality data.

The position also requires demonstrated competencies in aquatic species identifications; in collecting, managing, curating, conducting statistical analysis, and graphing large datasets, including comfort using the package R; and in project and research management.

This position requires someone with the ability to be away doing field work in remote locations for 2-3 weeks at a time.

Strong written and oral communication skills and experience with scientific publications and reports are assets.

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