Center Director and Professor - Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory

Duties and Responsibilities

This is a 12-month 100% (1.0 FTE) administration position. The Director is responsible for the management and coordination of all research, extension and academic programs at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (FMEL), located in Vero Beach, Florida. The Director provides leadership and assistance to the faculty and staff at the center in developing and implementing research, extension, and academic programs and seeks Federal, State, and/or private funds to supplement the budget provided by the Florida Legislature.

Other administrative responsibilities include the preparation of budgets, allocation of operating funds to all sections of the Center, evaluation of all FMEL faculty members in conjunction with department chairs, the initiation of tenure and promotion for FMEL faculty members in consultation with appropriate department chairs, and supervision of staff including farm operations, automotive services, custodial/janitorial/maintenance services, and the center’s media specialist.

The Director is responsible for communicating all facility needs and maintenance requirements to the appropriate staff and administrators. Close interaction with industry representatives and governmental agencies is expected. The Director strengthens and maintains strong ties and goodwill with stakeholders and support organizations, regulatory agencies, environmental groups, local and statewide governmental agencies, members of urban and rural clientele groups, and the public.

The Director works with faculty and staff to facilitate a multi-disciplinary program related to the FMEL's mission and actively encourages and supports graduate educational programs at the Center. The Director interacts with other research and education center directors, department chairs, faculty, and county extension faculty to foster cooperation and collaboration among faculty members at different administrative units within the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS).

The Director must have the necessary skills to recruit and develop faculty and staff that will be responsive to the research and extension educational needs of the FMEL's clientele groups. The Director will report administratively to the Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources and programmatically to the deans and directors of the three functions:
Research, Academic Programs, and Cooperative Extension.

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 Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, part of the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is located in Vero Beach along the Indian River Lagoon on Florida's subtropical east coast. The Laboratory, established in 1956, has a legislative mandate to:
1) Conduct research in the biology and control of biting insects and other arthropods which are important transmitters of disease or pest annoyances and on the pathogens they transmit,
2) Be a center to train students and personnel from public health, veterinary science, sanitation, mosquito control, urban planning and engineering, wetlands management, and other fields requiring knowledge of medical entomology, and
3) Integrate international programs into the Center’s research, teaching and extension activities. Our mission is to conduct cutting edge research in medical entomology that includes vectors, pathogens and their interactions and management utilizing a global and environmentally-sound approach; extend and apply resulting knowledge and innovations locally and globally for the benefit of Florida and the global community; and translate faculty expertise and insights into an effective program for training and instruction of current and future researchers, teachers, public health workers, and the general public.

FMEL strives to be a globally recognized medical entomology and public health research and education center serving as a nexus of international collaborative research on…