Description

Corteva Agriscience is seeking students for a full-time internship within our research and development organization in Johnston, Iowa. We offer students the opportunity to work closely with a senior scientist in an industrial setting, and the students will have extensive opportunities to network across the company.

This position will reside within the Seed Product Development Native Traits team. This team enables Seed Product Development teams by providing genomics tools and knowledge which influence and improve the breeding strategy of Native Traits for corn, soy, canola, sunflower, mustard, millet, rice, cotton, sorghum, and wheat. This includes curating and managing genetic and physical maps, fine mapping, marker development, and novel natural variation discovery.

The Native Traits team is seeking an intern with experience and interest in crop genetics and genomics. The intern will use molecular biology techniques in combination with computer science skills to complete discovery, mapping, marker development, and genomic characterization of native trait loci.

Responsibilities – What You’ll Do:

• Work along side a supervisor to develop, validate, and deploy genomics information and tools to the Product Development team. Participate in all phases of research including planning, preparation, evaluation, and analysis with supervisor.

• Demonstrate independent and creative thinking by making novel observations, interpreting data, and drawing sound scientific conclusions.

• Manage your own research project with the expectation of a verbal report to the larger intern group found throughout the United States.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to reach research goals.

• Work in a safe manner and embody Corteva’s safety culture.

Qualifications

Qualifications – What You’ll Bring:

• Preference will be given to students pursuing Masters or Doctorate degrees, but available for all students currently pursuing a Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate degree in a relevant discipline.

• Able to relocate to Johnston, Iowa for the duration of the internship.

• Able to work full-time (40 hours per week) during the timeframe of May to December.

• Experience in wet lab molecular biology techniques, such as plant tissue sampling, DNA extraction, PCR, and agarose gel elecrophoresis.

• Ability to manage and maintain large data sets. Experience in a scientific programming language (Python, R) is desirable but not required.

• Candidates must have strong organizational, communication, and time management skills.