Assistant Professor of Invasive Wildlife Ecology

Assistant Professor of Invasive Wildlife Ecology

Job No: 538712

Work Type: Full Time

Location: Broward

Categories: Biology/Life Science, Agricultural Sciences

Department:  - AG-FLREC-FT LAUDERDALE

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call  or the Florida Relay System at  (TDD) or visit Accessibility at UF.

This is a 9-month tenure‑accruing position that will be 70% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 30% extension (Florida Cooperative Extension Service), available at the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Davie, FL, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida. Tenure will accrue in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit.

Duties will include development of a productive, interdisciplinary, extramurally funded research program in the field of invasive wildlife ecology with a focus on providing natural resource managers, private landowners, and other stakeholders with scientific information to contribute to development of effective data‑driven control strategies for invasive wildlife that threaten ecosystem health and economic sustainability. The program will provide baseline data to determine impacts of invasive wildlife species on native fauna and ecosystems, agricultural production, and the built environment’s infrastructure.

This may include, but is not limited to, application of field‑based approaches, statistical modeling, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and molecular techniques aimed to identify impacts and to improve detection, removal, and monitoring of invasive wildlife. As an interdisciplinary field, invasion ecology affords many opportunities for internal and external collaborations, and the candidate is encouraged to seek collaborations with established research programs at UF/IFAS, other academic institutions, and government agencies.

Extension responsibilities may include developing educational programs and toolkits on detecting, reporting, and controlling invasive wildlife species. The incumbent will provide proactive leadership, training, and assistance to UF and other stakeholders. Interaction with local, state, and federal agencies as well as Indian tribes will be important to this position. The faculty member will actively participate in graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis and dissertation research, and publishing the results with their graduate students.

Faculty are encouraged to participate in professional development activities related to teaching and advising and may teach courses and seminars. The faculty member will actively seek extramural funding to support their program, publish in referred journals, and produce extension publications.

Because of the IFAS land‑grant mission, all faculty are expected to be supportive of and engaged in all three mission areas—Research, Teaching and Extension—regardless of the assignment split specified in the position description.

The University of Florida is a Land‑Grant, Sea‑Grant, and Space‑Grant institution, encompassing virtually all academic and professional disciplines, with an enrollment of more than 56,000 students. UF is a member of The Association of American Universities. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences includes the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Florida Sea Grant program, and encompasses 16 on‑campus academic departments and schools, 12 Research and Educational Centers (REC) located throughout the state, 6 research sites/demonstration units administered by RECs or academic departments, and Florida Cooperative Extension Service offices in all 67 counties.

The School of Natural Resources and Environment is an interdisciplinary unit housed in IFAS and managed by several colleges…