About the Job
The position is located at the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) in Morris, MN. The WCROC conducts applied research in the areas of crop production, dairy production, horticulture, water quality, renewable energy and swine production. The WCROC is part of the U of MN’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.
This is full-time position as a horticulture researcher at the WCROC, Morris, MN. Forty hours per week, mainly Monday-Friday with minimal weekend work during the months of January-May.
Duties:
- (30%) Manage and care for trial and demonstration plant materials in the greenhouse. Independently follow proper research protocols and record all experimental data. Includes growing and propagation from seed, vegetative cuttings, transplanting, media management, disease and insect control, monitoring fertility needs, irrigation, crop scouting and operating greenhouse growing equipment.
- (30%) Manage and care for trial plants and systems in horticulture research plots. Perform complex, multi-step research objectives and protocols. Independently record field and greenhouse plant and harvest data including yield, disease and insect tolerance, vigor notes,
growth, bloom rating, foliage quality, pollinator presence and assist in design of research projects. Provide weed and vegetation management, irrigation, disease and insect control, garden design, mosquito and deer management, crop scouting, irrigation management, spring and fall prep and clean-up in all the horticulture research plot areas. Assist with writing research reports.
- (20%) Maintenance, organization and upkeep of greenhouses and various other horticulture structures. Responsible for ordering supplies and plants, maintenance of horticulture equipment including garden hand tools, vehicles, utility tractors, gators, tillers, lawn mowers, chain saw and weed eaters and organization of plot building, cold storage areas and chemical building.
- (10%) Manage and care for center grounds. Provide planting, weed and vegetation management of landscape beds, care of turf, landscape design, limited mowing management, fertilizing and pesticide applications.
- (10%) Supervise student labor and garden/greenhouse volunteers. Provide training, develop daily work plans, and recruit and coordinate members of our volunteer group.
