Assistant Professor in Soil Physics, Ecohydrology, or Hydropedology

Assistant Professor in Soil Physics, Ecohydrology, or Hydropedology

FLSA Status:
Exempt, 100%

Term: 9 month (academic year) 50% teaching, 50% research

Type:
Tenure - track

Reports to:

Department Head

College/Admin Unit:
College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences

Campus

Location:

St. Paul Campus

The Department of Soil, Water, and Climate (SWAC), College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) at the University of Minnesota, seeks candidates for a 9-month tenure-track assistant professor position in the area of Dynamics and Interactions at the Soil-Water Nexus with 50% research and 50% teaching responsibilities. The goal of this new position is to address interactions and feedback loops between soil processes and properties, multi-scale hydrology and climate change, land-use change, surface or ground water hydrology, and water quality using process-based ecosystem and Machine Learning models, and/or remote sensing or combined experimental/modeling approaches.

Example research topics include, but are not limited to:
1) impacts of land use and climate change on trends in regional hydrology, flooding, aquifer recharge and water quality in natural, managed, and agricultural landscapes; and
2) impacts of alternative cropping systems and soil management on runoff, discharge, water quality, trace gas emissions, soil physics, ecohydrology, and/or hydropedology.

• Develop a nationally and internationally recognized research program, seek and secure extramural research funding from state and national competitive grant programs, and develop an independent research program of basic and applied research.
• Build collaborations across disciplines and closely interact with other departments within CFANS and across the University, including related Centers.
• Work with engineers and computer scientists, agricultural scientists, environmental and climate scientists, state climatologists, USDA-ARS researchers, UMN Extension, and a network of Research and Outreach Centers across the state.
• Teaching responsibilities for this position are envisioned to include undergraduate and graduate level courses offered by the department and related to the successful candidate’s discipline and background.
• The department supports the Land and Atmospheric Sciences (LAAS) graduate program, the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) undergraduate program, minors in Soil Science, Water Science, Climate Science, International Agriculture, and Precision Agriculture.

• Ph.D. in soil science, water resources science, biosystems engineering, ecology, earth sciences, civil and environmental engineering, or related field.
• Demonstrated commitment to the University's goal of creating an inclusive campus climate.
• Basic and relevant applied research experience.
• Demonstrated record of peer-reviewed publication within discipline.

• Broad understanding of soils, hydrology, drainage, streamflow, recharge and climate change interactions in agricultural and natural landscapes.
• Broad understanding of soil and cropping system management impacts on hydrology and ecosystem processes.
• Good technical skills in GIS and remote sensing image analysis.
• Good skills in regional scale hydrologic, watershed modeling, process-based modeling, machine learning and AI modeling experience.
• Strong working knowledge of empirical methods used in the study of soils, hydrology, drainage, streamflow, and/or recharge.
• Good technical writing skills.
• Effective organizational and communication skills.
• Teaching, teaching assistant, or teaching training experience.
• Interest in interdisciplinary approaches and/or community-engaged research and education.