[ES_JOBS_NET] Cluster hire, Environmental Sciences, U.Texas Rio Grande Valley

Mon Dec 14 10:09:14 MST 2020

https://careers.utrgv.edu/postings/26665
Deadline 01/15/2021

*Scope of the Job*

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley seeks new faculty to help with
its mission to transform the region, the Americas, and the world through an
innovative and accessible educational environment that promotes student
success, research, creative works, health and well-being, community
engagement, and sustainable development
https://www.utrgv.edu/strategic-plan/). In support of this mission, The
School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences (SEEMS;
https://www.utrgv.edu/seems/index.htm) aims to recruit two tenure-track
(assistant professor) positions and one open rank (assistant, associate, or
full professor) position who can contribute to the research, teaching, and
community engagement efforts across our unit. In particular, we seek
faculty that can help increase the representation of historically
underrepresented faculty in the environmental sciences, including
underrepresented minority and women faculty. We value applicants who can
understand and have overcome race, gender-based, and ability-based
barriers, and who can bring with them the wealth of worldview, perspective,
and experience that is critical to an innovative and accessible educational
environment. As a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution, UTRGV
 and SEEMS is committed to inspiring and preparing its students to succeed,
excel, and lead in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world, and
seeks new faculty committed to help in this goal.

The successful applicants will teach and conduct research in at least one
of the following five broadly defined areas: (1) Environmental Justice, (2)
Systems Modeling of coupled human-natural systems, (3) Sustainable Energy,
(4) Natural Resource Economics, and (5) Environmental Data Science. We seek
applicants with disciplinary depth who can apply their expertise in a
cross-disciplinary or multidisciplinary approach, and can contribute across
the multiple degrees offered in SEEMS: BS in Environmental Science, BS in
Marine Biology, BS in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, MS in
Agricultural, Environmental, and Sustainability Sciences, MS in Ocean,
Coastal, and Earth Science. Faculty are also expected to contribute to
future doctoral programs currently in development. SEEMS has a particular
need for a social scientist (e.g., geographer, political scientist,
sociologist) capable of instructing a graduate course in ecosystem-based
management and an undergraduate course in environment & society. In
addition to teaching, the candidates will be expected to mentor students,
to develop and maintain an active research program with student and
community engagement, and to provide service to SEEMS, UTRGV, the
profession, and the community.

Relevant areas of environmental justice expertise include, but are not
limited to, tribal fishery and water rights, racial disparities in the
siting of environmental amenities and disamenities in urban settings, the
conservation of global biodiversity in locations with indigenous and First
Nation communities, food justice and food sovereignty, and climate justice.

Relevant areas for research associated with the modeling of coupled
natural-human systems include empirical quantitative modeling;
simulation-based modeling; agent-based modeling/multi-agent systems;
complexity science; neural networks; social network analysis;
visualization; spatial social science; developing quantitative, predictive
and computational modeling of food-water-energy systems that increase
decision support capability for critical systems; or using data and
mathematical models for analysis of the ecosystem services of
interconnected food, water and/or energy systems in affecting human
well-being.

Relevant areas of sustainable energy expertise include renewable energy
(i.e., solar, geothermal, hydro, wind, biomass); ways in which
non-renewable resources can be used more effectively, by minimizing
environmental impacts; technologies and policies for enabling sustainable
energy development and use (e.g., smart grids, net metering, clean energy
financing, automobile efficiency standards); and domestic and international
sustainable energy and climate policy and treaties.

Relevant areas of natural resource economics include, but are not limited
to, environmental valuation (including environmental accounting and
contingent valuation) in forest, marine, and coastal settings, and
agricultural economics.

Relevant areas of environmental data science include those that involve
investigating how individual and collective behavior affects biodiversity
outcomes and vice versa. The candidate should have strong quantitative
skills in one or more of the following areas: econometrics, causal data
analysis, integration and analysis of large datasets, social and behavioral
field experiments, spatial statistics, and other commensurate approaches.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is in the middle of one
of the fastest growing areas in the nation, the southern tip of Texas known
as the Rio Grande Valley. Located along the US-Mexico Border, the region is
a vibrant, bicultural and bilingual area, well known for its unusual
biological diversity and as a state epicenter for agricultural production.
The RGV is dotted with several growing metro areas that are centers for
international trade, culture, tourism and agriculture. This subtropical
region includes the vibrant cities of McAllen and Brownsville, recently
ranked #3 and #4 among US cities for the best places to live for quality of
life.

With a total enrollment of over 32,000, UTRGV is one of the largest
institutions of higher education in Texas and the second largest
Hispanic-serving institution in the nation, with an emphasis on educating
21st century leaders and professionals who are culturally fluent and have a
deep understanding of the perspectives, languages, and values of different
cultures. UTRGV is an energetic and progressive institution, seeking
faculty who are committed to making a difference and leading innovation.
UTRGV became home to a new medical school in fall 2016 and is developing
cross disciplinary initiatives to become a premier research institution in
South Texas. The College of Sciences recently inaugurated a new buildings
and spaces for SEEMS faculty, which includes state-of-the-art lab spaces
and a core facility for instrumentation across our main campuses in
Edinburg and Brownsville, and at the Coastal Studies Labs in South Padre
Island and in Port Isabel.  SEEMS also manages research and teaching
gardens, a 5-acre farm, and work closely with local area partners (local
farms, local city and federal agencies) on collaborative opportunities for
research and teaching. As part of the University of Texas System, UTRGV has
access to UT System resources, such as the Texas Advanced Computing Center (
https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/). The university offers a start-up package and
reduced teaching load for incoming faculty. Highly qualified candidates may
also be eligible for the University of Texas System Rising Star Award to
enhance start-up packages. Applicants should submit the following
documents, with statements written in the context of being a professor at a
minority serving institution.

1. Cover letter
2. Statement of research
3. Statement of teaching philosophy
4. Statement of commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in
the sciences (1 page)
5. CV
6. Unofficial Transcripts
7. List of 3 or more references
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