Technical Aide

### Position Summary(Basic Job Function)

This is a temporary or an on-call position. Provides technical support. Responsibilities may include computer programming or operations; research support; medical patient care; technical equipment maintenance, repair, fabrication or operation; or other technical support functions.

### Unit Position Summary

The successful candidate will work with scientists at Michigan State University in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Genetics: Drs. Jean Tsao, Henry (Rique) Campa III, and Edward (Ned) Walker.  Drs Tsao and Walker work on the ecology, prevention, and management of arthropod vectors and their pathogens.  Dr. Henry (Rique) Campa III works on wildlife habitat ecology and ecosystem management, with an emphasis on wildlife-habitat interactions and the effects of disturbance on species, populations, and communities.  The candidate will work closely with a post-doctoral scholar to be determined. MSU scientists have been awarded funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease (MCE-VBD) to carry out several projects to explore innovative methods to reduce tick- and mosquito-borne diseases.  

The primary project the technician will work on lies at the nexus of disease ecology, wildlife-habitat interactions, host-targeted interventions for disease control, and the human dimensions of wildlife management.  The technician will assist with developing an innovative deer-targeted area-wide tick control method to reduce the risk of tick-borne disease.  Specifically, the technician will help adapt an approach that was initially developed to reduce bovine tuberculosis risk among white-tailed deer in agricultural landscapes to reduce tick-borne disease risk in an urban-suburban landscape. The tick targeted in this study is the blacklegged tick, or the “deer tick,” which is responsible for the spread of Lyme disease (the leading vector-borne disease in North America) as well as several other reportable diseases that affect human and domestic animals.  This approach may be applied in the future to control other invasive tick vectors that frequently use deer such as the lone star tick, the Asian long-horned tick, and the Gulf Coast tick. The successful candidate should be someone who is excited to conduct research to implement an ecological intervention to mitigate wildlife-human hazards in a realistic setting and potentially engage with numerous stakeholders, which necessarily requires embracing research activities in ecological and human dimensions realms.

The technician is expected to carry out and/or assist with the following objectives:

– Characterize the use of several suburban/city parks by wildlife (deer and meso-mammals) using trail cameras across all seasons.
– Develop, implement, and evaluate drug delivery unit protocols to free-ranging white-tailed deer.
– Engage stakeholders to assess Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors (KAB) regarding ticks and tick control and assess acceptance of various tick control approaches for public lands, and in particular, host-targeted methods.
– Review and summarize deer-targeted wildlife disease management approaches, including, but not limited to reducing tick-borne disease.
– Supervise and co-mentor undergraduate students.
– Synthesize and communicate results in co-developed reports, presentations, and publications.
– Assist in other MCE-VBD related projects as appropriate.

Depending on interests, career objectives, time, and available resources the technician will also have the opportunity to participate in other MCE-VBD projects led by MSU and develop side projects in support of the main research project goals.  Thus, this project provides additional opportunities for scholarship in many different areas.

Established