Lab News

KZLab is Seeking a Lab Technician!

The Zamudio Lab (zamudiolab.org) in the Department of Integrative Biology at UT Austin seeks a highly motivated and detail-oriented laboratory technician to play a key role in supporting the research operations of our lab. Our research focuses on understanding evolutionary processes driving phenotypic and genetic diversity in vertebrate systems, with a focus on reptiles and amphibians. The lab uses comparative and population genomics to investigate the genomic architecture of local adaptation, immune resistance to wildlife diseases, and other phenotypes. We also have projects studying sexual selection and mating systems, and conservation genomics of endangered species.

This position offers a unique opportunity to be involved in many research projects in the lab, contributing to cutting-edge research program that integrates ecological, evolutionary, and molecular approaches. We are a fun, equitable, and welcoming lab community.

This position will involve standard molecular biology techniques, culture techniques, experiments with animals in the lab and field, and general lab management. The job will also include data analysis, and opportunities for publishing research.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

•  Establish/maintain operational protocols to ensure the lab is fully functional and equipped to conduct high-quality research. Place orders for equipment and consumables; reorder common-use consumables when they are running low; keep track of equipment maintenance schedules and arrange maintenance in timely fashion; organize repair/replacement of malfunctioning equipment; arrange proper waste disposal and pickup; defrost freezers as necessary; keep a catalog of orders; keep a catalog of items in freezers; ensure lab’s compliance with biosafety and fire codes.

•  Use advanced molecular techniques to preserve and analyze samples, including RNA and DNA extraction to assess and compare gene regulation and sequences, library preps, and basic bioinformatic analyses. Collection of molecular lab data for lab projects. Prepare libraries for next-generation sequencing. Manage data submission, retrieval, storage.

• Train and supervise undergraduate assistants tasked with nucleic acids isolation; provide lab safety training for new lab members. Train and assist graduate students and post-docs with data protocols and collections.

•   Assist in data analysis for research publication and related assignments.

•  Assist with animal room maintenance and experimentation.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The successful applicant will have a B.S. or M.S. degree in Biology or related field. Experience in general molecular biology lab techniques RNA/DNA extractions and preparing libraries for next-generation sequencing for any of these methods: WGS, RAD (any flavor), RNA-seq, Tag-seq, Quantseq, MBD-seq, ME-dip, CHIP-seq, Nanopore. Demonstrated ability to carry out research, troubleshoot new protocols. Basic computer literacy. Good communication skills for interaction with lab members and documentation functions.

APPLICATION:

To apply, please submit i) a letter of interest, (ii) a full CV, and iii) contact information for three references. Review of applications will start February 1st, 2025 and will continue until the position is filled. Start date is as early as March 2025, but negotiable.

The application link is here: https://utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UTstaff/job/UT-MAIN-CAMPUS/Research-Engineering-Scientist-Associate-I_R_00037110

Inquiries about the position can be directed to Kelly Zamudio (kelly.zamudio@austin.utexas.edu).

Post-Doc position in the KZLab! Immune responses to pathogen infections in frogs

We are looking for an NSF-funded post-doc in our lab in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. The work will examine immune mechanisms that potentially underlie susceptibility of frogs to the chytrid fungus Bd (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis). Specifically, the project entails characterizing T-cell receptors in experimental populations of bullfrogs under different growth conditions, to assess the plasticity of receptors and their downstream effect on host tolerance to the pathogen. Our lab has a long history of studies in this host-pathogen system, and we are looking for someone to extend these analyses to include experimental manipulation of hosts. The postdoctoral candidate will have the opportunity to interact closely with co-PIs at the University of Rochester (Jacques Robert), the University of Central Florida (Anna Savage), and Vanderbilt University (Ann Tate).

The postdoctoral candidate will be encouraged to carry out independent work. There is a wide variety of research going on in the lab in addition to the current project. For more details on our work, please see zamudiolab.org

The candidate must have a Ph.D. at time of appointment, preferably in biology, immunology, population genomics, or related field. The position will require experience in working with frogs (in lab and/or field), molecular methods for collection of genomic data, and strong bioinformatic skills. Salary commensurate with experience.

To apply, please submit i) a letter of application, (ii) a full CV, iii) a brief statement of research interests, and (iv) contact information for three references. Review of applications will start immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Start date can be as early as September 2025, but negotiable.

Inquiries and applications can be directed to Kelly Zamudio (kelly.zamudio@austin.utexas.edu).

The University of Texas, Austin has an active group in evolutionary genomics, herpetology, disease ecology and considerable genomic and bioinformatic resources. Austin is situated in the scenic Texas Hill Country. The cultural environment provided by the University and the City of Austin is exceptionally rich in art, music, and entertainment.

Couple new papers from the lab!

Couple fun projects have just been published from our lab. As always, pubs represent hard hard work, so I am especially thankful to all the authors who put in the time and effort. #ProudPI

The first is a paper led by Fabio de Sá published in Ecology and Evolution (a paper from his PhD thesis). Two species of Cycloramphus come together in the Atlantic Coastal Forest of Brazil and there are some interesting dynamics going on in terms of introgression and mitonuclear discordance. [link]

The second paper was a lab project, led by Céline Carneiro. We examine the global distribution of genomic resources for reptile and amphibian conservation. We find that i) resources exist, but are very skewed globally and areas of highest biodiversity are coldspots for genomic resources ii) most genomic resources provide information on spatial variation in population diversity, far fewer address functional variation and implications for species adaptive potential in the face of global change iii) Many of the coldspots show significant bias in authorship, with papers on taxa from the global south having fewer local authors compared to studies on taxa from the global north. A truly collaborative conservation genomics field will need improved resource sharing and capacity building in the Global South. [link]

UT Girl Day 2024

This post is late but I still thought worth a celebration!

Zamudio Lab beautiful folks were role modeling during UT Girl Day on campus in February 2024. Our booth was about frogs and frog diseases (of course)…

STEM Girl Day is inspiring at UT, nearly 17,000 students (K-8th grade) swarm on to campus to meet STEM faculty, do hands on activities, and explore their science interests. Outreach that matters!

Thanks to Anat, Chloé, Rebecca, and Céline for representing!

Looking forward to #UTGirlDay 2025!

Four Zamudio Lab members at 2024 UT Girl Day

#Evol2023 is a wrap!

Zamudio Lab showed up in force at the Evolution Meetings this year in Albuquerque! Four talks and two posters covering everything from snake hybrid zones to museomics! Everyone rocked it!

It was also a lot of fun to see all our colleagues again, and make new friends. We are all exhausted but looking forward to #Evol2024 in Montreal 🇨🇦🍁

  • Britt White on sexual dimorphism in anoles
  • Chloé Allen presenting her poster on puddle frog systematics
  • Maia Rogers showing her results on morphological clines in a hybrid zone of patch-nosed snakes
  • Anat Belasen uses museomics to explore immune genes in the past before chytrid induced declines
  • Rebecca Clemons reports on a virus of Bd!
  • Celine Carneiro talking about grasshopper sparrow population genomics