Tenure-track faculty positions

The University of South Alabama Department of Biology seeks applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the area of Vertebrate Ecology, starting August 15, 2013. Applicants with broad training in ecology and systematics of vertebrates are preferred. The individual is expected to teach an undergraduate class in Biology of Terrestrial Vertebrates, a class in one of the following areas: Herpetology, Ornithology, or Animal Behavior, and may develop a graduate course in their specialty. Preference will be given to candidates who can also teach our core course in Genetics. The successful candidate will serve as curator of the university’s Vertebrate Natural History Collection. Candidates are expected to develop an externally funded research program. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Biology or related field. Postdoctoral experience preferred.

The University of South Alabama comprises about 15,000 students, 9 colleges, many M.S. programs, 5 Ph.D. programs, and includes a comprehensive medical school. The Department of Biological Sciences has 14 full-time faculty. The department offers both B.S. and M.S. degrees and is well equipped for both field and molecular research.

The university is located in Mobile, with a metro area population of about 300,000. The campus is located in a wooded area in a mild Gulf Coast environment, including nearby extensive, pristine freshwater habitats of the Mobile Delta, as well as estuarine and marine locales.

Here on campus, the University’s Program in Basic Medical Sciences and Cancer Research Institute faculty offer collaborative opportunities as well and access to institutional shared resources (e.g. electron microscopy center, genomics/proteomics facility, FACS, Confocal microscopy, etc).

To our north lies the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, an area of much untapped research opportunity. This area comprises over 260,000 acres of Delta wetland, making it the second largest delta river system in the U.S. As Alabama’s largest wetland, the Delta plays a vital role in maintaining the area’s ecological balance by filtering impurities from what amounts to 15 percent of the nation’s fresh water. The Delta lies more than 30 miles north of the Gulf, making it largely a freshwater system.

To our south lies the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. This facility is on the eastern tip of a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. Faculty at the DISL are actively involved in both basic and applied research in the Mobile Bay watershed, sub-tributaries of Mobile Bay including Weeks Bay, Dog River and Fowl River and the Alabama coastal zone and nearshore waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences can hold adjunct appointments in the Department of Marine Sciences or departments in the College of Medicine and thereby mentor doctoral students those departments, as well as masters and undergraduate students in the Dept. of Biological Sciences.

The Department of Biological Sciences and University of South Alabama are very committed to undergraduate research and offer opportunities for participation in research not only during the academic year, but have funds available to support student during the summers as well (see the UCUR website). Our department also offer talented undergraduates the option of participating in our Undergraduate Thesis Program.

Send cover letter, vitae, official graduate and undergraduate transcripts, statements of teaching philosophy and research goals, and three original recommendation letters to: Vertebrate Ecology Search Chair, University of South Alabama, Department of Biology, 5871 USA Dr. N, Rm 124, Mobile, AL 36688; (251) 460-6331.

Review of applications will begin 1 October 2012 and continue until the position is filled. The University of South Alabama is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer.

Biology Faculty Position: Tenure-track