USDA-ARS Research Fellowship in Grazing Beef Cattle Physiology and Behavior
*Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.
ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Forage-Animal Production Research Unit located in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.
Research Project: The educational opportunity involves performing research, under the mentorship of Dr. Brittany Davis at the USDA-ARS, FAPRU, focused on grazing beef cattle physiology and behavior. The primary research project is a multi-state beef cattle grazing collaborative study. The fellow will have the opportunity to participate on a project that focuses on determining the impacts of adaptation to different grazing management systems and environments (KY vs. MT) on the performance and physiology of beef heifers, specifically as it relates to fescue toxicosis and heat stress susceptibility. This study utilizes a combination of measures including reproductive, rumen microbiology (combination of molecular and anaerobic microbiological approaches), animal physiology (vascular Doppler ultrasound, rumen temperature, RNA sequencing, markers of inflammation and stress), behavior (grazing behavior halters, accelerometer-based ear tags, chute velocity measures), environmental monitoring, and pasture measures.
Learning Objectives: Under the mentor's guidance, the participant will learn to compile, analyze, interpret, and report collected data (microbiome, feeding behavior, precision activity monitoring, rumen temperature and pH bolus, environmental data, etc.) from past and ongoing grazing and pen beef cattle research. Overall, the fellow will have the opportunity to gain experience in grazing research, pen research, nutrition, physiology, gut microbiology, bioinformatics, precision technologies, agronomy, and reproductive physiology in beef cattle, as well as opportunities for collaboration and networking.
Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Brittany Davis (brittany.davis@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).
Anticipated Appointment Start Date: April 2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.
Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.
Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.
Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. The anticipated stipend is $74,678 annually.
Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.
ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.
Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process, please email ORISE.ARS.Midwest@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
Qualifications
The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a doctoral degree in the one of the relevant fields.
Preferred skills:
- Experience in analyzing, interpreting, and publishing large datasets including computation, coding, and bioinformatics with an emphasis on conducting correlative analyses between data sets and with other collected performance and physiological data is preferred.
- Experience in animal science research with an interest or previous experience in grazing beef cattle preferred.
- Experience utilizing molecular techniques for studying microbial communities.
- Experience or interest implementing and evaluating precision technologies.
- Experience in the use of scripting languages (e.g. python, R, etc.)
- Experience performing multivariate statistical analyses and using statistical analyses software for data processing and interpretation.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong organizational and project management skills.
- Ability to perform collaboratively in interdisciplinary research teams.
Stipend
$74,678.00 Yearly
Point of Contact
Eligibility Requirements
- Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
- Degree: Doctoral Degree.