Job Description

The urgent need for innovations in sustainable agriculture

Our food supply is facing multiple threats: climate change is decimating crop yields, chemical fertilizers and pesticides are destroying the environment, and thin profit margins are driving farming families out of business. Farmers urgently need tools to increase the profitability and sustainability of their operations. Quorum Bio is a team of scientists responding to this clarion call by developing environmentally friendly, low-cost biological fertilizers and pesticides. Using the latest advances in synthetic biology, we engineer microbes to boost crop yields, promote crop resilience to climate stress such as drought, and enhance carbon dioxide storage in soil. We are an early stage, venture-backed company inspired by research at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and supported by the Activate Fellowship (www.Activate.org) and the AgLaunch national farmer network (www.aglaunch.com).

Role Summary

We are hiring a part time Greenhouse Technician to accelerate our development of biological fertilizers. This role involves working in a research laboratory, under supervision, to set up and maintain hundreds of plants as part of our research studies. The technician must follow protocols carefully to ensure the integrity, accuracy, and reproducibility of the plant experiments.

We invite candidates who can commit 10 – 15 hours per week to this role on weekdays between 10 AM and 5 PM EST. Candidates should be prepared to begin work no later than Jan 6, 2025 and commit at least 6 months to the role.

Qualifications

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be able to lift 20 pounds and complete tasks that require standing for 4 hours
• Demonstrate a track record of completing work that requires following detailed instructions carefully, following workplace safety practices, and reliable job attendance
  
  

Main Responsibilities

Following established protocols and under company staff supervision:

• Prepare defined soil mixtures, load soil mixtures into pots, and sow seeds
• Water plants with exact volumes of water
• Collect photographs of plants and measure the heights of plants using a ruler
• Harvest plants by separating the shoots from the roots
• Clean up the workspace
• As required, provide additional laboratory support involving routine operations like dishwashing
• Exercise safe laboratory working practices, such as wearing a lab coat, eye protection, and gloves
  
  

Compensation

• $20 per hour
  
  

Quorum Bio is supported by:

The US Dept. of Agriculture, Refactor Capital, FTW Ventures, Overwater Ventures, Juniper Ventures, AgVentures Alliance, Impact Science Ventures, The Collaborative Fund, Gigascale Capital, and the Activate Fellowship