Currently citrus greening disease (huanglongbing; HLB) poses an existential threat to Florida citrus production, and plant biology can contribute to managing this problem. 

A post-doctoral research postition is available to begin in January 2019 for research in citrus physiology in the Horticultural Sciences department at the University of Florida, located at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida. The objective of this project is to understand huanglongbing symptom development, especially in response to environmental variables. This work is a collaborative effort combining labs that work in plant physiology, biochemistry, and plant pathology. The selected candidate will manage field experiments regarding effects of shade on photosynthesis and carbohydrate status of HLB affected trees. The selected candidate would have the opportunity to use unique methodologies at the Citrus Tree Ecophysiology laboratory to assess photosynthetic development and carbohydrate translocation. 

The ecophysiology lab (website here) at the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida, uses whole-plant physiological approaches to address challenges in horticultural productivity. The purpose of this program is to serve Florida perennial fruit crop producers with production methods and biological understanding to improve in the traditional citrus region. Examples of research topic include: How citrus shade acclimation and water-acclimation mitigate whole plant carbon allocation, water relations, and tolerance of Candidatus liberibacter asiaticus, the causal agent of greening.

If interested please send CV and a sample of writing (preferably from a peer-reviewed publication) to Christopher Vincent at civince@ufl.edu.