Job Information
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Specialist II in United States
Job Title
Research Specialist II
Agency
Texas A&M Agrilife Research
Department
Evidence Center
Proposed Minimum Salary
Commensurate
Job Location
Fort Worth, Texas
Job Type
Staff
Job Description
Job Description
The Research Specialist II, under general supervision performs and analyzes evidence synthesis projects.
Who We Are:
As the largest comprehensive agriculture and life sciences program nationally, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies within The Texas A&M University System. Texas A&M AgriLife Research is one of these agencies. With over 5,000 employees, and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, the environment, and the economy of Texas and the nation through education, research, extension, and service.
Texas A&M Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Evidence Center is a newly created center with the mission to become an authoritative source of objective information and analysis on the Agri-Food system’s effects on health, the environment, and the economy. The Evidence Center will conduct and publish state-of-the-art research synthesis studies of different types (e.g., systematic reviews, meta-analyses) important for understanding the impact of agriculture, food, nutrition, and natural resource policies on human, environmental, and economic health and sustainability. The Evidence Center will also drive the next generation of research synthesis methodologies that are rigorous and transparent, and be a leading convener in gaining global consensus on standards of evidence, as well as promoting and strengthening public trust in science-informed policies and solutions.
What We Want:
The Texas A&M Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Evidence Center seeks a Research Specialist who will support research syntheses related to diet, nutrition, food and health. Under the direction of the Nutrition & Health Program Lead, this Research Specialist will support the conduct and publication of evidence reviews including. This role will be required to follow and meet project quality standards and contribute to methodology advancement. The Research Specialist will work with data management software and may have other technical responsibilities.
Responsibilities:
Assists with proposal development for new scientific evidence review projects on diet, nutrition, food and health topics. Supports nutrition and health scientific evidence review projects including adhering to quality standards, meeting deadlines, and writing reports and publications. With support from their supervisor, plans and directs certain phases of the research project. Compiles and reviews data. Extracts data from published studies and reports. Creates and maintains data extraction tables for data summarization and synthesis. Performs quality control checks to verify accuracy of data. With support from their supervisor, follows state-of-the-art methods and best practices, including prospective publication of protocols and supporting data transparency initiatives. Contributes to collaborative cross-functional teams addressing evidence across the agri-food-health system, providing advice to assure key nutrition and health implications and outcomes are identified and included in assessments. Supports topic expert panels and co-investigators on projects, including generation of protocols, determining scope, question refinement and criteria, as well as contributing to publications and presentations. Assists in development of materials such as methodology training guides, materials for the website, and presentations. Other duties as required
Required Education and Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in nutrition or related field and six years of experience in health, nutrition, or related area. Or, Master’s degree in nutrition or related field and four years of experience in health, nutrition or related area.
Preferred Experience:
Master’s degree in nutrition, health, or related area
Communication experience including the development of written materials for technical audience as well as for public audiences
Experience conducting systematic evidence reviews
Experience with reference management software (e.g. Endnote, etc)
Experience with systematic review data management software (e.g., Covidence, DistillerSR, etc.)
Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Experience reading and interpreting research on nutrition and health topics, including understanding the strengths and weaknesses of various study designs
Strong written and verbal communications skills, and excellent interpersonal abilities.
Comfortable learning and working with software programs which may require coding
Excellent organizational skills, detail-oriented, and ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
Proven ability to collaborate with others
Willingness to attend workshops, seminars, conferences, if needed
Proficiency with Microsoft Office including Teams, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.
Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.
All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.
Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer committed to diversity.
As the largest comprehensive agriculture and life sciences program nationally, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies within the Texas A&M University System With over 5,000 employees, and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, the environment, and the economy of Texas and the nation through education, research, extension and service.If your goal is the pursuit of excellence and your vision is to make a difference in this world, we invite you to explore our opportunities to discover what a career at Texas A&M AgriLife has to offer you.
Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service (https://agrilife.tamu.edu/agency/extension-home/)
Texas A&M AgriLife Research
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University (https://agrilife.tamu.edu/agency/college-home/)
Texas A&M Forest Service
Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (https://agrilife.tamu.edu/agency/tvmdl-home/)
Texas A&M AgriLife collaborates with Prairie View A&M University, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and West Texas A&M University as well as with other public and private partners.
Prospective employee benefits
Retirement programs
Commitment to inclusive excellence (https://agrilife.tamu.edu/about/diversity-inclusion/)
Strategic plan