Assistant Professor, Silviculture and Applied Forest Ecology

~ Utah State University is a public land-grant research and teaching institution founded in 1888. ~

The Department of Wildland Resources, in the Quinney College of Natural Resources, conducts research and educates students and the public about the ecology and management of wildlife, rangelands, and forests, and about conservation and restoration ecology. The department is partially supported by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station and the USU Ecology Center. It has several Extension-supported faculty, several faculty who are federal or state collaborators (with the USGS Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, USDA Wildlife Services, U.S. Forest Service, and USDA Agricultural Research Services), and many supporting facilities and laboratories. Many opportunities for collaborations exist within the department, college, and across campus.

USU has an enrollment of about 28,000 students, including 18,000 students on the main campus in Logan and 3,300 graduate students. Logan offers the amenities of a college town within the Cache Valley metropolitan zone of 115,000 people, and offers a low cost of living. Positioned along the scenic Wasatch Mountains and Bear River Range, the region offers a wide variety of outdoor activities within minutes of campus and is within a day’s drive of ten national parks, numerous national monuments, and vast areas of publicly-owned rangeland and forest. Cache Valley is a 90-minute drive north of Salt Lake City, a dynamic metropolitan area with an international airport. The university has been ranked 8th in the nation's best public national universities for graduates with the least debt because of affordability, academic quality and accessibility.

Position Overview

The Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University is seeking applications for a full-time 9-month tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Silviculture and Applied Forest Ecology. We are seeking a scholar dedicated to the use and development of silvicultural approaches to meet a range of functional goals in forested landscapes. The position consists of 50% research, 40% teaching, and 10% service, to start August 1, 2019. Application review will begin September 10, 2018.

Responsibilities

• The appointed faculty member will be expected to develop an externally-funded research program that achieves an international reputation for research and graduate training in applied forest ecology and resource management.
• Research foci may include, but are not restricted to (i) how silvicultural approaches can increase resilience and adaptive capacity of forested ecosystems, given changes in climate patterns, insect activity, fire regimes, and other impacts; (ii) how forest structure, composition, and spatial/temporal patterns of treatments can be manipulated to achieve specific sets of ecological and social/economic goals; (iii) how large datasets can be used to understand and predict forest ecosystem or structural responses to multiple interacting stressors.
• The candidate’s expertise should complement existing strengths in the Quinney College of Natural Resources.
• The successful candidate also will mentor and advise undergraduate students, will be involved in undergraduate research and club activities, and will teach undergraduate courses which contribute to the SAF-accredited forestry program at Utah State University.
• The candidate will recruit and mentor graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, and will teach a graduate-level course related to forestry.
• The faculty member will participate in graduate education by serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis and dissertation research, publishing results jointly with graduate students, and actively engaging with students from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
• An important aspect of this position is the ability to work across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, and to collaborate with federal and state agencies.
• Effective communication with a variety of stakeholders is essential, consistent with the Land Grant mission of Utah State University.
• We are seeking candidates who can prosper within a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• An earned Ph.D. in forestry or closely related field.
• Working knowledge, field experience, and training in silviculture and applied forest ecology.
• Ability to develop an externally funded research program.
• Experience articulating natural resource science to diverse audiences.
• Experience working with land management agencies and various stakeholder groups.
• Demonstrated ability to publish peer-reviewed research.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A record of securing research funding.
• Demonstrated ability to teach undergraduate and graduate-level classes.
• Active participation in professional societies (e.g., Society of American Foresters, Society of Ecological Restoration, etc.).
• Experience mentoring students from diverse backgrounds.
• Interest in developing field-based research projects in Utah and the Intermountain West.

Additional Information

• Search Committee Chair, Dr. Karen Mock
• Department of Wildland Resources
• Ecology Center
• Logan and Cache Valley

~ As an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, USU is dedicated to recruiting strong candidates from a diverse applicant pool, including women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities. USU is sensitive to the needs of dual-career applicants and offers competitive salaries with outstanding medical, retirement, and professional benefits. ~