Aquatic Technical Specialist - Charlottesville, United States - University of Virginia

University of Virginia
University of Virginia
Verified Company
Charlottesville, United States

3 weeks ago

Mark Lane

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Mark Lane

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Description

The University of Virginia's Center for Comparative Medicine (CCM) is seeking an
Aquatic Technical Specialist I who will be responsible for the daily husbandry and care of the zebrafish colony (and other aquatic species within the facility).

As part of this, the incumbent will ensure high quality operation and maintenance of zebrafish life support systems and associated equipment and tasks and provide timely customer service to investigators and their staff.

In addition, the Aquatic Technical Specialist must collaborate with investigators, IACUC and CCM staff to provide all the necessary training and scheduling to ensure smooth operation of the facility.

The position is expected to work holidays and weekends on a rotating assignment basis or as required by the management.


Duties and Responsibilities:


  • Operate, perform preventative maintenance, and troubleshoot recirculating aquatic life support system and racks. Inform vendors and inhouse engineers of all electrical, mechanical, plumbing and facility related issues that impacts the productivity and health of the aquatic animal colony.
  • Conduct periodic water quality checking to ensure the health of the aquatic colony.
  • Communicate health status of the colony to the principal investigator and veterinary staff.
  • Feed animals with the appropriate type and quantity of feed for the different life stages. Ensure adequate supply of quality feed on a daily basis for adult and juvenile aquatic animals.
  • Provide training to investigators, their staff and back up and weekend CCM staff on relevant aspects of colony maintenance and aquatic husbandry. Ensure training is captured in the enterprise training documentation system.
  • Create and update standard operating procedures in conjunction with IACUC and CCM for all relevant tasks associated with husbandry, experimentation and system maintenance.
  • Point of contact for system emergency notifications and maintenance of emergency notification list.
  • Inventory and upkeep of husbandry supplies, feed stock, equipment and drugs and chemicals as per SOPs. Liaise with CCM and purchasing to ensure timely receipt of consumables.
  • Prepares and uses disinfecting and sanitizing solutions as per SOPs.
  • Collect colony census using barcode technology. Reconcile census and other expenses with users.
  • Establish and implement quarantine and sentinel monitoring in collaboration with the veterinary staff.
  • Familiarize with specialized techniques in gamete collection, embryo manipulation, genotyping and microscopy to support maintenance of mutant and transgenic lines of aquatic animals.
  • Operates and / or uses dish washer(s) and autoclaves to sanitize and/or sterilize tanks and equipment as needed.
  • Ensure the facility operates per institutional (IACUC, IBC and safety) guidelines and adheres to the principles in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Prepare facility for IACUC semiannual inspection and AAALAC site visits.
  • Remains familiar with Center for Comparative Medicine emergency response procedures.
  • Serve as a backup for other facility husbandry needs as needed and directed by supervisor.

Anticipated Hiring Range:
$19 - $23/hour; based on qualifications and experience.


Minimum Qualifications:


  • Education: High school diploma (or equivalent) or higher.
  • Experience: 1 plus years of experience working with animals with an understanding of different life support systems, husbandry, nutrition, and associated facilities.

Additional Qualifications:


  • Excellent communication skills and the ability to work with people from a wide variety of social and educational backgrounds. Ability to use Microsoft Office suite especially Word, Excel and Outlook.
  • Knowledgeable in AAALAC accreditation standards and principles in the Guide (2011, NRC) as applied to aquatic species.

Physical Demands:


  • Maintains ability to lift bags or equipment items weighing up to fifty pounds.
Pressure in this position will vary depending on the workload. The workload will be heavy but manageable most of the time. Pressure may arise in the face of deadlines associated with grants, required documentation related to the faculty appointment, etc.


The above list of duties is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by individuals assigned to this classification.

It is not to be construed as an exhaustive list of duties performed by the individual so classified, nor is it intended to limit or modify the right of any supervisor to assign, direct, and control the work of employees under his/her supervision.


The selected applicant will be required to complete a background check and health screening prior to their first day of employment per University policy.


To Apply:


  • Resume
  • Cover letter
Upload all materials into the resume submission field, multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission. Applications t
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