Assistant Professor of Postharvest Horticulture

The Department of Plant Sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis is recruiting an Assistant Professor of Postharvest Horticulture. This is an academic year (9-month), tenure-track Assistant Professor position that includes an appointment in the California Agricultural Experiment Station (AES). Faculty members who hold an Agricultural Experiment Station appointment have a responsibility to conduct research and outreach relevant to the mission of the California Agricultural Experiment Station.

Participation in outreach programs and performance of university service are also expected.

The appointee is expected to establish a competitively funded research program in postharvest horticulture, with a focus on the biological processes underlying quality and postharvest performance of horticultural crops. Potential research directions include, but are not limited to, the physiology of maturation, senescence, and postharvest stress responses; biochemical pathways and genetic or genomic determinants of quality traits; sensory and nutritional attributes;

interactions between harvested crops and microorganisms; preharvest influences on postharvest performance; and development of innovative approaches to assess, predict, or maintain quality. The program should connect fundamental discoveries with practical applications through approaches suited to the appointee’s expertise and promote interdisciplinary research collaborations to address critical or emerging issues in reducing food loss and waste, improving crop quality and nutritional value, and advancing new frontiers in postharvest science and technology, with relevance to California’s diverse horticultural crops and to national and international supply chains.

The appointee will be responsible for teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in postharvest science, plant physiology, and crop quality that support Plant Sciences and related programs. Typical teaching expectations include serving as instructor of record for 2.5 courses per year on average, with specific course assignments determined in consultation with the Department Chair and Vice Chair for Instruction and Curriculum.

Potential courses include Biology and Quality of Harvested Crops (PLS 172), Microbiology & Safety of Fresh Fruits & Vegetables (PLS 174), and graduate courses such as Postharvest Biology & Biotechnology of Fruits & Nuts (PLS 212) and Postharvest Physiology of Vegetables (PLS 213). Additional opportunities include teaching or co-teaching plant physiology and laboratory courses, such as Physiology of Environmental Stresses in Plants (PLS 157) and Metabolic Processes of Cultivated Plants Laboratory (PLS 100AL).

The appointee will contribute to curricular development, including opportunities to develop courses in molecular and cellular aspects of postharvest biology, food loss and waste, or biotechnology of crop quality. The appointee is expected to be active in graduate student advising through the Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group and other relevant graduate programs, and in undergraduate student mentoring, including research experiences and internships.

Participation in and development of public outreach and/or community engagement programs, and performance of departmental and university service is expected. This position is expected to collaborate with Cooperative Extension specialists and advisors, partners in allied industries or other appropriate public stakeholders.

This recruitment is conducted at the assistant rank. The resulting hire will be at the assistant rank, regardless of the proposed appointee's qualifications.

Initial review of applications will be conducted using anonymized…