icipe Postdoctoral Research Career Opportunity - IPM Programmes

icipe is an intergovernmental organisation funded by government aid agencies, UN organisations and private foundations to carry out research and training in environmentally sound and sustainable management of arthropods for improved health and agricultural productivity in the tropics.

icipe has approximately 350 staff to support its research and capacity building programmes, located at various sites in Kenya and Ethiopia.

icipe seeks to urgently hire a highly motivated candidate to join an established interdisciplinary team dedicated to the development of sustainable IPM programmes for mango and cashew pests in sub-Saharan Africa.

Responsibilities

• The incumbent will plan and direct semiochemical ecology work to support the implementation of environmentally acceptable interventions to manage Bactrocera invadens (an invasive fruit flies of mango) and mirid of cashew.
• Lead a balanced basic and applied research program targeted towards developing new female-biased attractants from blends of host fruit volatiles for monitoring, mass trapping and suppression.
• Explore the exact identity of key ligands from host fruit volatiles using linked gas chromatography-single sensillum recordings (SSR),
• Develop and formulate blends of compounds, carry out field testing of the compounds in comparisons with standard food attractants, as well as quantifying their impact on the target pests and their compatibility with other IPM packages.
• Expected to be among a team conducting complementary field suppression studies that incorporate entomopathogens, classical biological control, bait-based technology, and use of soft pesticide in an integrated system to manage other pests such as indigenous fruit fly, mango seed weevil and coreid pests.

The position requires cooperation with on-station research personnel in complementary disciplines and with NARS and mango and cashew growers in target countries. The Postdoctoral Fellow will be based at icipe’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, but will be expected to spend a portion of his/her time at Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany to participate in complementary research on fruit flies.

Requirements

The suitable candidate should have :

• PhD in Entomology, Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry or any related Biological Science field with no more than 3 years experience
• Excellent background in chemical ecology techniques (for example bioassay guided micro-identification of compounds, field assays, arthropod electrophysiology, gas chromatography and mass spectra analyses)
• Good oral and written scientific communication skills
• Oriented towards good scientific output
• Proficiency in English language (with French as an added advantage)
• The ideal candidate will be a self-starter with excellent interpersonal, management and organizational skills
• Experience in working with fruit flies and mirid is desirable

A competitive compensation package will be offered to the selected candidate and the appointment will initially be for two years.

Applications will be accepted up to 20 January 2012.

Only applications of shortlisted candidates will be acknowledged.

Please send an application with a detailed CV, names and addresses of 3 referees including e-mail addresses, fax numbers and remuneration package to:

icipehr@icipe.org

The Human Resources Department
icipe - African Insect Science for Food and Health
P.O. Box 30772-00100
Nairobi
Kenya

icipe is an Equal Opportunity Employer