Assistant Professor of Soil-Plant-Water Interactions

The Department of Land, Air and Water Resources (LAWR) in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis is recruiting an Assistant Professor of Soil-Plant-Water Interactions with a preferred emphasis in quantifying and modeling water movement through the soil-root-plant-atmosphere continuum in agricultural and managed ecosystems. 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 and public service are also expected.

The appointee is expected to establish a competitively funded research program focused on soil–plant–water interactions. The program should advance fundamental understanding of interactions and addresses critical and emerging challenges in sustaining agricultural productivity and ecosystem functioning under a changing climate and increasingly variable and limited water supplies. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: root-zone processes, root water uptake, and soil–root–plant hydraulics;

interactions among soil properties, root systems, and plant water status; plant responses and adaptation to environmental stresses, including drought, heat, salinity, and irrigation with marginal-quality water; crop consumptive water use, water productivity, water footprints, and resilience; effects of soil and crop management practices on soil water dynamics, root-zone conditions, plant-available water, and the regulation of plant water use; and the development and integration of in situ, proximal, and remote sensing technologies, data-driven approaches, and process-based models to understand and predict soil–plant–water processes across spatial scales, from the rhizosphere and root zone to fields, farms, and watersheds.

Applications are particularly encouraged from individuals researching topics that link these processes to California priorities such as sustainable groundwater management, CV-SALTS, Agricultural Order, and climate extremes. The department's current teaching load is approximately 2.5 undergraduate or graduate courses per academic year, and the applicant will be expected to teach courses in the area of soil-plant-water interactions. Example courses include HYD 124 (Plant-Water-Soil Relationships), SSC 107 (Soil Physics), and a new upper-level hydrology course in topics such as Root-Zone Science:
Soil–Water–Plant Dynamics from Roots to Landscapes, and a graduate course on the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum or root-zone processes and modeling. The appointee will be expected to advise and mentor undergraduate students, and mentor M.S. and Ph.D. students through graduate groups such as Hydrologic Sciences, Soils and Biogeochemistry, and Horticulture and Agronomy, and contribute to curricular development in the department. Participation in and development of public outreach and/or community engagement programs, and performance of departmental, university, and public service is expected.

This position is expected to collaborate with Cooperative Extension Specialists and Advisors, partners in allied industries, or other appropriate public stakeholders.

Initial review of applications will be conducted using anonymized versions of the Statement of Research Accomplishments and Interests. Applications demonstrating sufficient potential based on this review will be advanced to full review.

This position…