Assistant Professor-Soil Conservation

This is a full-time 9-month tenure-track undergraduate teaching position focused on Soil jobshiringnearme.org and Soil Health in our Crop and Soil Science program. The faculty member will develop and maintain engaging courses that provide students with hands-on experience that showcases the importance of soils in providing ecosystem services and sustaining agricultural production through the utilization of regenerative practices. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in soil science and will contribute to our collaborative interdisciplinary department that includes Crop and Soil Science, Horticulture, jobshiringnearme.org, Community & Environmental Planning, and Geology. The standard teaching load is 12 credit hours per semester. Faculty members are expected to accomplish a record of scholarly achievement, including (but not limited to) mentoring of undergraduate research projects. Opportunities exist for optional summer employment through internship supervision, research grants (including funding available through the Dairy Innovation Hub), teaching, and other funding sources.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

• Teach the following courses: Introductory Soil Science, Soil and Water jobshiringnearme.org, and additional courses depending on the candidate’s expertise. Course array may change over time.
• Provide leadership in the on-going development and design of the Introduction to Soil Science curriculum to enhance recruitment and retention through integration of evidence-based teaching strategies, active learning techniques, and high impact practices.
• Modify courses and/or develop new courses, as needed, to contribute to a comprehensive soil science curriculum that engages students and prepares them for professional careers and licensure.
• Mentor and advise undergraduate students.
• Establish partnerships and collaborations with appropriate industry partners to facilitate internships and other learning opportunities for students and help ensure relevancy of program curricula.
• Engage in scholarly activity, which can include developing a research program appropriate to a primarily undergraduate teaching institution, investigating the scholarship of teaching and learning, and mentoring undergraduate research projects, in addition to involvement in professional organizations.
• Participate in co-curricular activities including coaching or co-coaching the collegiate soil judging team, involvement in student organizations, and supervising internships.
• Participate in service activities at the department, college, and university levels.