Small Fruits Field & Lab Aide

This position is located at the Hampton Roads Agriculture Research and Extension Center. The position assists faculty, staff, and graduate students with the maintenance of agricultural research plots and laboratory analysis. Job responsibilities include working with strawberry and blackberry production. Specific duties include setting up research trials including marking research plots, bed making, fertilizer application, transplanting (10% of the time); plot maintenance such as mowing, pruning, helping with setting row covers (20%); harvesting berries in the field (40%); data collection in the field and lab. which includes taking plant health ratings, plant canopy readings, measuring fruit sugar content, fruit size and fruit firmness (20%); and data entry in MS Excel (10%).

Virginia Tech is unable to sponsor applicants for work visas for this vacancy.

Basic computer skills. Interest in plant sciences and ability to work outside in the field, regardless of the weather.

Prior field, lab and/or greenhouse experience.

1

Non-Exempt: Eligible for overtime

Restricted

$16 per hour

Approximately 29 hours per week/1500 hours per year.

Review date begins September 13, 2026; open until filled

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine, a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including Blacksburg, the greater Washington, D.C. area, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, sites in Newport News and Richmond, and numerous Extension offices and research institutes. A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.

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