The School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston is seeking candidates for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Urban Ecology to begin September 1, 2025. We invite scholars to apply who study urban ecosystems through the lens of conservation, adaptation, and restoration. We will consider those working in any of the domains of ecology, environmental health, environmental biology and nature-based solutions. Topics could include but are not limited to the ecological study of sustainable urban development, urban agriculture, climate resiliency in cities, and/or invasive species management.

Job Description

The School for the Environment’s (SFE) mission is to examine the natural world and explore diverse challenges in natural, built, and social environments, as well as the intersections among them. Using transdisciplinary and equity-informed approaches to research, teaching, and action, we expand environmental knowledge and understanding and create cutting-edge transdisciplinary solutions to environmental and social problems in Boston and beyond. Therefore, the preferred candidate should be able to work within and complement activities and interests of the core and affiliate faculty. We particularly welcome community-based participatory research approaches as well as candidates that use methodologies for transdisciplinary problem-solving approaches. Being Boston’s only public research university located on the Boston Harbor waterfront, we are particularly interested in candidates that examine the linkage of urban ecological systems to coastal resiliency, adaptation and restoration. SFE faculty support undergraduate (environmental science, environmental studies), master’s and PhD programs (environmental science, marine science and technology). SFE is also home to the Urban Planning and Community Development (UPCD) Department, and we expect the successful candidate to have strong interactions with UPCD faculty and students.    

The candidate will have the opportunity to interact with programs and collaborators within the School for the Environment the Stone Living Lab, Urban Harbors Institute (UHI), Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL), Mass Bays National Estuary Partnership, Nantucket Field Station, Living on Earth, and the UMass Boston CANALA (Collaborative of Asian American, Native American, Latino and African American) Institutes.  Collaborative research opportunities also exist through the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Scholarly Grand Challenges. The successful candidate will be expected to develop an active, collaborative and impactful research program, seeking funding from public and private sources. The successful candidate will participate in graduate training and will receive mentoring within the School for the Environment as well as professional development opportunities.

Responsibilities

 The successful candidate will be expected to teach and mentor students across the Environmental Studies and Sustainability BA and Environmental Science BA, BS, MS, and PhD programs.  In addition to teaching and research, the candidate will also be expected to provide service to the School for the Environment, the university and the professional field of study.

Qualifications

We welcome candidates with a PhD in traditional or applied ecology or a related field. Given the transdisciplinary nature of solution creation, we invite applicants from a range of fields in Urban Ecology. The ideal candidate should have the ability and / or interest to collaborate in transdisciplinary teams, engage with diverse stakeholders, and integrate multiple disciplines to study complex urban ecology issues.

UMass Boston is an urban public research university with a teaching soul, whose impact is both local and global. We are the third most diverse university in the country - more than 60% of our undergraduate students come from minoritized communities and groups and more than half of our students are the first in their families to attend a college or university. Thus, our students come to us from richly diverse life experiences and backgrounds; they bring to our classrooms and research settings the robust range of perspectives growing out of the socio-cultural, economic, and historical contexts in which they have lived, along with the challenges they encounter, engage, and strive to overcome. We invite applications from candidates who engage the diverse life experiences of our student body, who appreciate that students bring their holistic selves into the academic setting, and who recognize and articulate how their own life experiences and backgrounds have shaped their journeys, practices, and commitments as researchers, scholars, and educators.

Application instructions:

Interested individuals can initiate the application process by visiting the UMB’s Career Portal at:

https://employmentopportunities.umb.edu/boston/en-us/listing/. After completing the University’s basic employment application, candidates can upload the following documents:

 ·      Cover letter (2 pages maximum)

·       CV

·       Complete contact information for three academic references

If selected to advance as a potential candidate, we will later request statements of teaching and research interests.

Application Deadline

For maximum consideration by the SFE Search Committee, materials should be submitted, via the UMB Employment Portal, by Friday, November 17, 2024 before 11:59  pm (EST).

For More Information

Michael Tlusty, Professor of Sustainability and Food Solutions, School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts Boston at: michael.tlusty@umb.edu.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact HRDirect@umb.edu or 617-287-5150.