Oregon State: Assistant or Associate Professor

Posted on February 5, 2024

Position description:

The Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences (FWCS) invites applications for a full-time 1.00 FTE, 12-month, tenure track/tenured Assistant or Associate Professor position.

This position is funded at 0.75 FTE and the faculty member is expected to fund the other 0.25 FTE from grants and contracts. For the first three years, full funding will be provided by the college at 1.0 FTE.

Any hiring at the rank of Associate Professor with indefinite tenure will be subject to a successful out-of-cycle tenure review process: https://facultyaffairs.oregonstate.edu/out-cycle-tenure-review-procedure.

The Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences (FWCS) in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University seeks applications for a full-time tenure-track/tenure Assistant or Associate Professor in Human Wildlife Interactions (HWI), Social Science. For over 85 years, FWCS has been teaching students to think critically about the problems our planet and ecosystems are facing while we conduct impactful research related to wild animals, their habitats, and human-ecological systems. We actively promote science-based conservation solutions and sustainable management practices, engaging with federal and state agencies, landowners, fisheries, Tribes, and many other partners. Our work increasingly integrates biological, physical, and social sciences, and we share our studies of individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems widely. The incumbent will complement and enhance our reputation for excellence in undergraduate and graduate instruction and engaged research.

This position will be focused on terrestrial ecosystems and contribute to the College of Agriculture’s Working and Natural Landscapes theme. Specifically, this position is designed to develop and lead an integrated program of research and teaching on the social-ecological understanding of human wildlife interactions in agricultural ecosystems with primary emphasis in Oregon where landowners include Tribes, private ranches and farms, among others. Engaged research comprises 40% of the job description, and must include a focus on human-wolf interactions, but may also focus on HWI across many species in the agricultural landscape. Candidates with experience in participatory or applied research with private landowners are especially welcome. A foundational part of this position’s engaged research is to work with Oregonians to understand and manage risks and opportunities at the human-wildlife interface. Teaching requirements (30%) include a new undergraduate course in fisheries and wildlife policy, an additional human dimensions course (e.g., FW 340: Multicultural Perspectives in Natural Resources or FW 289: Communication Skills in Fisheries and Wildlife) and one graduate course specific to the candidate’s expertise every other year. While this is not a formal Extension position, the incumbent is expected to spend significant time (20%) in outreach and public engagement activities across the state and region.

OSU has a breadth of environmental social science expertise. FWCS currently has two social science faculty members (Associate Professor, FWCS, and Assistant Professor, USGS Co-op unit) and one Human Dimensions instructor for online human dimensions courses. The candidate will have opportunities to collaborate with environmental social science colleagues within the college and across the university, some of whom are represented here. Their students will also be able to participate in the People and Nature graduate seminar that facilitates cross-departmental networking and dialogue.

We seek a colleague who has a demonstrable commitment to working and promoting inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds in research, education, and outreach. OSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, and especially encourages applications from members of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, LGBTQ+ community members, and others who demonstrate the ability to help us achieve our vision of inclusive excellence. OSU is committed to creating and maintaining compassionate and inclusive learning and working environments for all learners, visitors, and employees. Faculty members in the College of Agriculture design, develop, maintain, or carry out Extension programs that serve diverse populations, including those that have been historically marginalized.

Responsibilities:

40% Research and Scholarship

Maintain an externally funded research program that includes engaged scholarship in human-wildlife interactions and management in working landscapes and human-wolf interactions in Oregon as a component. Research must adhere to OSU’s requirements for research integrity, compliance, and safety.
Advise and Mentor graduate research assistants and/or undergraduate researchers who contribute to the research programs accomplishments; Serve as major professor for graduate and undergraduate researchers.
Broaden participation in the natural resource professions, including practices to recruit, retain, advise, mentor, and foster professional success among students from historically excluded or underserved communities.
Synthesize and communicate original research results to the scientific, management, and private landowner communities through appropriate outlets, including refereed journals and scientific and professional meetings.
Serve as an investigator on a USDA-NIFA Hatch collaborative or Hatch multistate project.

30% Teaching and Advising

Develop newly required fisheries and wildlife undergraduate course.
Teach two (2) undergraduate courses per year. One in fisheries and wildlife policy and another existing course (e.g., FW 340: Multicultural Perspectives in Natural Resources or FW 289: Communication Skills in Natural Resource Management).
Teach one (1) graduate level seminar or field course specific to candidate’s expertise every other year.
Oversee instructors for one (1) online course, with multiple sections per year.
Advise approximately twenty (20) undergraduates in academic planning.
Serve on committees of graduate students for which you are not serving as a major professor.

20% Outreach and Engagement

Develop, implement, and validate scholarship through sustained engagement with stakeholders and rights holders.
Develop outreach materials that meet community needs (e.g., policy briefs, white papers, extension publications, and blogs).

10% Service

Serve on department, college, and university committees as assigned.
Participate in professional service activities such as reviewing manuscripts for journals and proposals for national funding agencies, and involvement in professional organizations.

minimum qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications for all ranks (Assistant Professor/Associate Professor):

Ph.D. by date of hire in environmental social sciences, natural resource management, or a related field (e.g., geography, wildlife science, sociology, public policy, anthropology, psychology, applied economics).
Demonstrated potential to develop and teach an undergraduate course in fisheries and wildlife policy.
Demonstrated, or substantial potential for, interdisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary engaged research in human wildlife interactions.
Strong written and oral communication skills across different types of audiences.
Evidence of, or substantial potential for, effective interpersonal professional relationships, such as collaboration and/or engagement with a broad spectrum of landowners, agency managers, and community institutions.
Experience in, or demonstrable commitment to working professionally and inclusively with people from all backgrounds.
Experience publishing in peer reviewed journals

Additional Minimum Qualifications for the Associate Professor rank:

Demonstrated experience developing and teaching undergraduate courses related to fisheries and wildlife policy
Demonstrated ability to secure external grants for research.
Demonstrated experience working with stakeholders, agencies, and/or the public on controversial conservation issues

preffered Qualifications:

Research productivity in topics such as wildlife tolerance or coexistence, human behaviors that promote habituation of wild animals, solution-building across groups and/or wildlife interactions policy.
Experience obtaining funding for research from varied sources.
Field experience that includes working with rural communities, ranchers or ranching communities, farmers or farming communities, Tribes or tribal communities, and/or other agricultural managers.
Foundational knowledge of wildlife ecology.
Experience teaching learners of any age.
Demonstrated proficiency in quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Experience building capacity between research institutions and communities. This includes collaborative learning, facilitation, consensus decision-making, and/or conflict resolution.
Experience designing and implementing outreach that is community-centered and culturally responsive.
Record of or commitment to work with underrepresented/underserved students or other audiences.
Life experience, education, or training that broadens capacity to equalize student success or impact underserved audiences.

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Professionals, Graduates