Associate Director and Professor

Description

Position:
Stony Brook University seeks an Associate Director for the Institute for Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE)/Centre Val Bio (CVB) to provide leadership and promote a productive environment that fosters innovation and excellence in CVB's research, education, and outreach programs. The Associate Director should have academic expertise in one or more core areas covered by CVB, which covers the natural sciences.

(e.g., ecology, evolutionary biology, zoology, botany, organismal biology [e.g., entomology, herpetology, etc.], natural history, paleontology, primatology, ecology and evolution of infectious disease, ecology and evolution of behavior, tropical ecology and evolution), applied natural sciences (e.g., conservation biology, tropical forestry), or at the interface between science and society (e.g., anthropology, one health, biodiversity management). While holding a tenure home in an allied department at the main SBU campus on Long Island, the Associate Director is expected to reside at CVB in Madagascar for a great proportion of the first two-to-three years of their appointment, and at least one academic term each year thereafter.

Led by Stony Brook University's Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments, CVB is poised to become a leading biological field station, enabling unparalleled access to a global biodiversity hotspot in Madagascar. Located in Ranomafana National Park, Ifanadiana, Madagascar, CVB hosts a small community of visiting faculty (~5-15 annually), graduate students (~10-20 annually), postdoctoral scholars and academic specialists (~3-6 annually), and ~135 support staff, as well as three vibrant multi-season study abroad undergraduate programs.

CVB is unique in its ability to support integrated laboratory and field research in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar. Its large year-round expert staff, state-of-the-art laboratory, research and teaching facilities, and connections to researchers at dozens of global universities have no parallel in Madagascar. Major research facilities at CVB include: a genomics lab, ultracold freezers, liquid nitrogen generation, cell culture facilities, and an herbarium and insectarium.

Centre Val Bio's staff includes research technicians who specialize in identifying local plant and insect life, recording primate behavioral ecology, collecting specimens, and conducting biodiversity surveys. These staff provide research support services to visiting faculty and researchers for work both at Ranomafana National Park and expeditionary work across Madagascar, facilitating the production of new knowledge about some of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet.

Additionally, Centre Val Bio's education and reforestation teams work with local communities to promote conservation education, restore areas of disturbed and degraded forest, and improve educational opportunities in local communities. Additional information about CVB can be found at https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

The Associate Director provides visionary leadership for CVB in research and education, congruent with the mission of Stony Brook University, and is expected to maintain and enhance a productive environment for faculty, students, and both academic and non-academic staff. The Associate Director serves as the principal academic representative of CVB with authority and responsibility for decisions on all aspects of research administration.

In their capacity as Associate Director, this position reports directly to CVB's Executive Director and this academic position has an important administrative leadership component of ~30% of the total time. Key responsibilities of the CVB Associate Director are carried out with the support of specialists and administrative staff. These responsibilities include:
Providing visionary and strategic leadership for advancing and articulating the scientific mission of CVB, promoting U.S. national and international prominence in research across disciplines as outlined above, Overseeing the research programs at CVB with the Executive Director and coordinating these programs with SBU main campus departments, Overseeing the CVB budget and working with the CVB Chief Operating Officer and Finance Coordinator to ensure fiscally responsible program implementation, execution, and strategic investment in line with CVB's vision and mission, Leading major grant efforts in support of CVB programs, and…