Postdoctoral Scholar

Apply here for the Brook Lab postdoc position in Bat Infectious Diseases. Application review begins on June 25 and will be rolling thereafter.

Projected Project Period: Summer 2026 - Spring 2028 (2 year position). Start and end dates negotiable.

Work Description

The Brook Lab is searching for a Postdoctoral Scholar working broadly in the field of Bat Infectious Diseases. The Postdoctoral Scholar will work on themes central to the Brook Lab research program, specifically related to the transmission of potentially zoonotic infections among wild fruit bats in a Madagascar ecosystem. The focus of the position will be primarily analysis of existing data and writing, with a goal of completing a minimum of two peer-reviewed publications over the 2-year time horizon.

The Scholar may engage in lab work (at UC Berkeley) and field work (at the Madagascar research site) to fill gaps in the scientific storyline from pre-existing data as needed. International field work is an optional opportunity that may arise during the course of employment but is not a requirement for this position.

There are several different areas of focus that are possible for specialization, depending on the interests and skillsets of the selected Scholar. Available projects include but are not limited to:

  • Analysis of long term GPS telemetry data from two species of wild fruit bat to inform population viability analysis
  • Modeling of population-level viral transmission using PCR and serological data collected from longitudinal monitoring of wild Malagasy fruit bats, with possible incorporation of above telemetry data to inform metapopulation modeling structures
  • Analysis of microbial transcriptomics and metabolomics data to understand seasonal impacts on the bat microbiome and downstream consequences for viral infection status

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

  • PhD (or equivalent international degree) by the start date.
  • No more than three years of post-degree research experience by start date.

Preferred qualifications:

  • Previous experience in both mathematical and statistical modeling of infectious diseases and/or population trajectories.
  • Previous experience using R and Github.
  • Prior publications from doctoral research.

Position Details

Details of compensation and application instructions are available here. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Cara Brook at cbrook@berkeley.edu with any questions.