Animal Lab Tech I, Comparative Medicine

About the Role

The Department of Comparative Medicine is seeking a motivated and eager Animal Lab Tech I to join their team. This is an entry-level position for technicians with less than one year of experience in the husbandry of laboratory animals. The department is dedicated to the facilitation of biomedical research utilizing animals, while striving to maintain the highest quality of ethical, humane and appropriate animal care.

Key Responsibilities

• Sanitizes primary enclosures either by cage changing (e.g. rodents) or enclosure wash and disinfection (e.g. swine and canine) including high pressure washing, disinfectant handling and waste management.
• Assists in routine and special feeding, watering, handling (safely transferring animals from one enclosure to another) and changes cages and sanitizes primary enclosure for all species housed in the vivarium.
• Follows written and verbal instructions to provide special diets and medicated water to animals in the vivarium.
• Provides care for both immune-competent and immune-compromised animals, which may also be designated as biohazardous or chemically hazardous.
• Provides a basic assessment of animal general appearance, clinical signs, and behavior to recognize normal vs abnormal conditions in animals.
• Reports abnormal conditions in animals to the clinical team for further assessment, including overcrowding and non compliances related to animal welfare and health.
• Assists clinical and research staff with animal handling and basic treatments of all rodents (teeth trimming, separation, euthanasia).
• Performs veterinary related tasks post training by Clinical Staff and maintains clinical records as required; rodent breeding tasks may be performed as needed.
• Provides species-specific environmental enrichment to animals according to Comparative Medicine standards.
• Assists with animal receiving as instructed by the Animal Care Coordinator.
• Monitors animal room environmental parameters (e.g. temperature, photoperiods, and humidity), accurately records environmental data and reports abnormalities to ALTIII or Supervisor.
• Assists the ALTIII and/or area Supervisor with vivarium support tasks including but not limited to Reverse Osmosis/Deionized water system checks, Individual Ventilated Cage rack cycling, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and feed and bedding inventory audits.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Knowledge and application of relevant laboratory animal medicine standards, rules, and regulations.
• Comprehension and application of standard operating procedures (SOP) to prevent cross contamination of colony animals and equipment.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Windows, ability to learn other systems that support operations in the vivarium.

Qualifications

Education:

• A High School Diploma/GED is required.
• A bachelor's degree is preferred with relevant coursework in laboratory animal sciences.

Licenses and Certifications:

• Assistant Laboratory Animal Tech (ALAT) from the AALAS is preferred.
• Valid and current driver's license is required.

Experience and Skills:

• One (1) year of animal husbandry experience is preferred.
• Ability to learn, apply and maintain compliance with the rules and regulations governing the care and use of animals in research.
• Ability to provide and/or support a level of work excellence and accuracy; recognize and address flaws or errors that others may overlook.
• Ability to document tasks in an orderly, timely, and accurate manner.
• Ability to convey and/or receive written/verbal information to/from various audiences in different formats.
• Able to follow written and oral instructions in English.
• Ability to handle multiple demands and/or manage complex and competing priorities.
• Collaborates to problem solve and make decisions to achieve desired outcomes.
• Establishes effective working relationships with cross-functional team(s).
• Cultivates and maintains strong customer relationships and rapport with stakeholders and/or client groups.
• Shares knowledge, time, and expertise to assist other members of the team.
• Ensures practices and procedures are inclusive of interpersonal and cultural diversity.
• Identifies and responds appropriately to both internal and external customer needs utilizing available resources.