USDA-ARS Genomic Insights into Honey Bee Colony Health

Organization
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Reference Code
USDA-ARS-NEA-2026-0140
How to Apply

To submit your application, scroll to the bottom of this opportunity and click APPLY.

A complete application consists of:

• An application
• Transcript(s) – For this opportunity, an unofficial transcript or copy of the student academic records printed by the applicant or by academic advisors from internal institution systems may be submitted. Click here  for detailed information about acceptable transcripts.
• A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
• Two educational or professional recommendations

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

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Application Deadline
5/22/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description

*Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity in honey bee parasites is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), within the Bee Research Laboratory, located in Beltsville, Maryland.

The facility is located in 20 minutes North of Washington D.C. and 40 minutes south of Baltimore, MD. We and our 300 honey bee colonies are based on the 4,000 acre Beltsville Agricultural Research Center with several hundred colleagues devoted to various scientific subjects and disciplines. Our proximity to Washington, D.C. allows collaborations with numerous nearby academic and government research facilities.

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: Pollinators are critical for natural and agricultural systems. This project aims to involves genomic and transcriptomic approaches to identifying drivers of honey bee colony declines, from bee traits to expressed protein-coding genes and the presence of symbionts and pathogens. The goal is to use genetics to find and later validate drivers of honey bee colony losses.

You will join a research facility that is focused on honey bee health, with a staff that includes 6 scientists and support scientists, seven technicians, plus numerous students, research associates and visiting scientists. 

Learning Objectives: Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant may gain experience in or learn about:

• Genomic annotation and the discovery of genes in honey bees related to stress and disease
• Identification of key expressed genes in healthy and sick honey bees
• Characterization of diverse microbial communities and analysis of incidence and loads
• Designing and developing experiments including RNA-Seq
• Data analysis
• Drafting manuscripts reporting experimental results

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Jay Evans (jay.evans@usda.gov ). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: May 1, 2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for five months, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is part-time, or full-time, and is negotiable.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. The anticipated stipend is $6,000 monthly, plus health insurance.

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.Northeast@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 (e.g. Agricultural Sciences, Agriculture, Entomology, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Biology, etc.). Degree must have been received within the past five years, or anticipated to be received by 4/15/2026.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience developing and conducting experiments using gene-based assessments of host-microbe interactions.
• Proficiency with scripting languages (e.g. R, Bash, Perl, Python) and with open-source bioinformatics tools.
• Experience with genome assembly and/or analysis
• Excellent wet lab and basic molecular biology skills.
• Be highly motivated, reliable, and able to succeed in a diverse, collaborative, and interdisciplinary environment.

Stipend
$6,000.00 Monthly
Point of Contact
Janeen
Eligibility Requirements

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
• Degree: Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 4/15/2026 11:59:00 PM.
• Discipline(s):
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (4 )
• Veteran Status: Veterans Preference, degree received within the last 120 month(s).

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