U.S. Dept of Agriculture Hiring a Geneticist to Work at EPCOT! - Inside the Magic

If you are a fan of the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival & EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, visiting the Disney Parks, and have a degree in genetics (or at least nine college semester hours of genetics), this job opening may be perfect for you.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently hiring for a plant geneticist in the Orlando, Florida, area — specifically at The Most Magical Place on Earth, Walt Disney World Resort. This will be a full-time position with benefits and occasional travel may be required.

The position is located at “Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Functional Genomics and Breeding Research Unit with a duty station in Walt Disney World – EPCOT Center, in Orlando, Florida,” per the official job listing.

According to the official job posting on LinkedIn, the position will work with specific plants and tree fruit species. Potential employees should expect multitasking to be a crucial part of the role. The job responsibilities are as follows:

• Perform transformation for selected tree fruit species and produces transgenic plants.
• Verify the transformation, integration, editing, and/or expression of the introduced genes. This will include marker enzyme assays, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification of introduced genes.
• Initiate and maintain tissue cultures of selected fruit tree species.
• Utilize and optimize microbial-mediated plant growth promotion in tissue culture conditions.
• Knowledge of and skill in professional scientific writing and presentation skills to prepare reports, conduct presentations, and give tours.
• Conduct analyses of data, applying standard statistical methods. Prepare data in both tabular (i.e., tables, graphs, charts) and narrative form, noting any inconsistencies where the data appear inconclusive.
• Ensure that laboratory equipment is available when needed, properly calibrated and in working order.
• Perform maintenance and repair of equipment and arranges for service as needed.
• Assist in the procurement, installation of and training for new equipment.
• Provide support for communication and outreach efforts associated with Epcot visitor activities.
• Skill in oral and written communication in order to lead tours of the facilities and explain basic biotechnology concepts to visitors.
• Use multi-media platforms to disseminate biotechnology concepts. 

Full background and education requirements can also be found on the official job listing.

EPCOT is no stranger to elaborate plants, gardens and landscapes. Due to the adventurous and cultural nature of the park, there is a large emphasis on the theme park’s landscaping as well as on sustainability, and that definitely ties into the plants and vegetation inside the park.

Much of EPCOT’s emphasis on sustainability, environmentalism, and farming technology is actually displayed in the Living with the Land attraction.

Living with the Land is a boat tour attraction that takes guests past greenhouses to learn about the history and future of farming. Some highlights of this environmentally-aware attraction are seeing a fish farm, being exposed to international fruits and vegetables and seeing what the future of farming has in store. EPCOT restaurants Sunshine Seasons and Garden Grill serve seafood and produce grown right in the attraction. Full information on the attraction and where it is located within the park can be found here.

At the current moment, the job posting has been available for a month and there are still under 25 applicants. Be sure to apply if you are interested, or pass this position along to someone in the genetics industry looking for work with one of the most successful companies in the world! Hurry, there is no guarantee how much longer this application will be available!

Are you going to apply for this position? Be sure to let us know in the comments!