The Davidson College Biology Department invites applications for a tenure-track appointment in conservation biology, with an initial two-year appointment at the assistant professor level starting August 01, 2013.  

Position Details

We seek a broadly trained scientist who will contribute to all levels of the biology curriculum by teaching within our introductory course sequences, offering an upper-level conservation biology course, and teaching additional upper-level courses related to their expertise.  These courses will be expected to expand the biology curriculum while simultaneously contributing to our interdisciplinary environmental studies major. 

The candidate's research must substantially address conservation issues using contemporary methodologies and may examine any taxonomic area(s).  Candidates with abilities to teach and conduct research using computational, modeling, genetic, or molecular techniques are particularly encouraged to apply.  Research that is both suited to the region and complements existing strengths is also desired.  

The successful candidate will be expected to develop an active research program that is capable of attracting external funding and producing peer-reviewed publications with undergraduate co-authors.   Start-up funds and dedicated research space are available.  

Applications

• A Ph.D. in conservation biology,  ecology, or a related field is required. 
• Undergraduate teaching experience and postdoctoral research training are also preferred. 
• All application materials (cover letter, CV, research statement, teaching statement, AND three letters of recommendation) must be submitted at jobs.davidson.edu by October 15th. When you have completed your materials (cover letter, CV, research statement, and teaching statement) only then will you be asked to enter the names and email addresses of three references. Our system will automatically contact those references to request a letter for your application. Please keep in mind that these letters are also due on October 15th. We prefer that your referees submit their letters via jobs.davidson.edu, but will also accept letters emailed to balom@davidson.edu if necessary to meet the October 15th deadline.

Davidson College is strongly committed to achieving excellence and cultural diversity and welcomes applications from women, members of minority groups, and others who bring additional dimensions to the College's mission.  

For further information contact Barbara Lom, Biology Chair (balom@davidson.edu).

Additional Information:

Appointment
This position is an appointment to the Biology Department. The successful candidate will also be expected to participate in the Environmental Studies major as a core faculty member, which requires that s/he teach at least one course per year that contributes toward the Environmental Studies curriculum (e.g., a conservation oriented course). Evaluation of the candidate for renewals and tenure will be conducted by the Biology Department with input from Environmental Studies. As part of a job offer, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the successful candidate, Biology, Environmental Studies, and the Dean's office will detail teaching expectations and evaluation mechanisms.

Teaching & Research Climate
The Biology Department emphasizes student learning through research in numerous ways. Biology is regularly one of Davidson's most popular majors and is the most research-active department in the College. More than half of our 13 tenure-track faculty have been hired since 1998 and 76% of our majors perform at least one semester or one summer of research. We have state-of-the-art facilities for both teaching and research and have been very successful in obtaining funding for innovative research and pedagogy. Since 2004, Biology faculty members have been awarded more than $7.8M in external support from NSF, NIH, HHMI, and other organizations. Many of our major courses include an original research experience as part of the laboratory component; in some cases these class projects (as well as many independent research projects) result in peer-reviewed publications and/or presentations at scientific meetings. For example, in 2011 eight Biology faculty members produced 22 publications with 34 total undergraduate co-authorships.

Teaching Load
The annual teaching load for full-time faculty members at Davidson is five courses over two semesters (no summer courses are offered). For most natural science faculty members, a five-course load translates into two lab courses (with two lab sections each) plus a third course each year. We expect that the conservation biologist will annually teach: 1) an introductory lab course, 2) an advanced biology lab course; and 3) a seminar, group investigation, or lecture-only course.

Research Area
We seek a conservation biologist who will be able to sustain a research program that contributes new knowledge to the field and also brings new approaches and research questions to the College. The area of research within conservation biology is unspecified, though we seek candidates who can complement existing strengths, increase the diversity of organisms studied, and develop a research program that is amenable both to the region and to undergraduate participation during the semesters and summers.

Support for Research & Professional Activities
Davidson College will provide start-up funds as well as a dedicated research laboratory to support the successful candidate's scholarly research pursuits. Annual travel funds are available for faculty members to attend professional conferences. The College also provides opportunities to apply for research support, particularly for summer research collaborations between faculty and students and support for student travel to present research results at scientific conferences. Moreover, the Biology department budget also provides support for instrumentation, travel, and consumables related to teaching and faculty-student research.

Facilities & Instrumentation
The Biology Department is located in the Baker-Watt Science complex, comprised of Watson and Dana Science Buildings. The College also operates a greenhouse, a lake campus, a farm, and a 200-acre ecological preserve on the edge of the main campus. Each biology faculty member with an active research program has a dedicated research space that is further supported by shared facilities and instrumentation (freezers, autoclaves, dishwashers, ice machines, balances, water systems, etc.). All teaching labs in our buildings are well equipped with recent computers, projection systems, and specialized instrumentation. Major instrumentation includes: field vehicles, environmental chambers, animal facility, spectrophotometers, a microscopy suite (including confocal), a tissue culture facility, ecological sampling equipment, global positioning systems, geographical information systems, DNA sequencing equipment, dissolved oxygen meters, etc. Moreover, plans are in progress to construct a new science facility as part of an integrated academic neighborhood in the near future.

Support Services
A Grants and Contracts office supports faculty members in seeking and managing external funds. Additional support services within the sciences include an AAALAC certified animal care facility, an instrumentation specialist, information technologists, a department assistant, and two laboratory preparation staff who support introductory biology and some upper-level labs.

Course Releases & Sabbaticals
Davidson faculty members also have a variety of opportunities to earn reduced teaching loads to support externally funded research projects, to advance curricular innovations, and/or as acknowledgements of teaching service (often through mentoring student researchers). Full-time, tenured faculty members normally earn a sabbatical leave of up to two semesters every seventh year. Pre-tenure faculty members may request a sabbatical in their fifth year. The College typically funds sabbatical salaries of one semester at full pay or two semesters at half pay. As well, a faculty member's external research funds and/or competitive internal funds may become available to supplement salary for two-semester leaves.

Professional Development
The College provides faculty members with professional development opportunities through a mentoring program, a Center for Teaching and Learning, a pre-tenure faculty group (NOAH), a faculty of color group, and grants for teaching innovations. It also sponsors workshops on teaching and participates in local, regional, and national organizations dedicated to outstanding undergraduate education.

Search Timeline & Process
The search committee's current plan (subject to change) is to review applications in mid-October, conduct phone interviews with top candidates in very early November, and then invite up to three candidates for campus interviews in late November and early December. Campus interviews will include meetings with the President, Vice President for Academic Administration, Equity Advisor, Human Resources, Environmental Studies faculty and students, and Biology faculty, staff, and students. Each candidate will also give a research seminar and teach a sample class as part of the interview.