Assistant Professor - Arthropod Biodiversity - Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

Assistant Professor
- Arthropod Biodiversity
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

The Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor nine-month faculty position in the area of Arthropod Biodiversity.

Biodiversity lies at the heart of all ecosystems, from the smallest microbiomes to the global expanses of continents, oceans, and the atmosphere. It holds intrinsic value across many dimensions, encompassing species, genes, functions, processes, and cultures, while also providing tangible benefits such as food, medicine, and other natural products. Biodiversity underpins essential ecosystem services, including clean air, water, and soil, and contributes profoundly to human health, cultural identity, and psychological well-being.

Arthropods, which E.O. Wilson famously described as "the little things that run the world," are the majority of Earth's macrobiota and have recently faced threats from multiple stressors, including climate change, habitat loss and degradation, and cumulative use of agricultural chemicals.

Loss of biodiversity, both locally (α-diversity) and among locations (β-diversity) is occurring at a rate exceeding our current efforts to discover, document, and understand the species with which we share our planet. These patterns are particularly true for arthropods, with insects showing global declines in populations across multiple orders (sometimes referred to as "insect apocalypse"). At the species level, arthropods now represent 70-80% of the documented loss of biodiversity.

At the same time, many other arthropods are becoming increasingly problematic as invasive species, pests of agriculture and forests, and vectors of plant and animal pathogens. Expertise is needed in understanding drivers of arthropod biodiversity change, including understanding processes leading to resilient populations, communities, and ecosystems.

ESPM is a multidisciplinary community of scholars from across the sciences and humanities who conduct research, teaching, and outreach to advance scientific understanding and develop solutions for the world's pressing environmental problems. ESPM is home to a top-ranked Ph.D. program in environmental science, environmental studies, and ecological/evolutionary biology. Our undergraduate students have a choice of vibrant majors that span the disciplines in the department.

ESPM is committed to addressing the family needs of faculty, including dual career couples and single parents. We are also interested in candidates who have had non-traditional career paths, who have taken time off for family reasons, or who have achieved excellence in careers outside academia. For information about potential relocation to Berkeley, or career needs of accompanying partners and spouses, please visit the Office for Faculty Equity and Welfare's website.

Applicants for this position must hold a Ph.D. (or equivalent international degree) or be enrolled in a Ph.D. (or equivalent international degree) granting program at the time of application. The successful applicant will develop an internationally recognized research and teaching program focusing on terrestrial arthropod biodiversity in studies of (but not limited to) ecology, arthropod data science, disease biology, community/ecosystem ecology, conservation biology, systematics, evolutionary biology, and biological interventions (including management, removals, biological control, bioremediation, restoration, climate-adaptation).

We encourage applicants whose research contributes to the design, management, and integrated understanding of biodiverse systems, using any of many approaches, including (but not limited to) field surveys, use and integration of natural history collections, ecological manipulations, genomics, AI, and computational biology.

The successful candidate will have a doctoral degree in a relevant field such as, but not limited to, biological disciplines (including ecology, evolutionary biology, conservation biology, systematics), environmental sciences, geography,…