[ECOLOG-L] Faculty Position in Dendroclimatology - Utah State University

[Justin DeRose]

Position Summary:
The Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate (PSC) in collaboration with the Ecology
Center at Utah State University (USU), Logan UT, is seeking applications for a 75%
research 25% teaching tenure track, nine month, full time position in dendroclimatology
at either assistant or associate professor level. Research: use tree ring chronologies to
conduct and collaborate on transdisciplinary research into past, millennial-scale, climate,
and connect to present and future climate. Teaching: mentor and advise graduate
students and post-doctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds, and teach one or
more undergraduate and graduate courses in the broad area of atmospheric and climate
science. Qualifications: an earned Ph.D. in fields such as, but not limited to,
meteorology, climatology, geography, forestry, or ecology, with experience in utilizing
proxies for paleo climate analysis, with an emphasis on tree ring chronologies

Dendroclimatology (assistant/associate tenure track), Department of Plants, Soils, and
Climate at Utah State University. Research: transdisciplinary and collaborative use of
tree-ring chronologies for millennial-scale past climate analyses; teaching: graduate and
undergraduate.

For further questions, please contact search committee chair Roger Kjelgren,
roger.k...@usu.edu, 435-797-2972

Responsibilities:
The successful candidate will conduct and collaborate in transdisciplinary research into
past, millennial-scale, climate, and connect to present and future climate. This will
encompass development and analyses of tree-ring chronologies in the context of
biophysical interactions of tree physiology with soil and atmospheric factors to extract
and analyze time series of key properties and coherent patterns of hydrology and
climate. Fundamental to this position is working across disciplinary and institutional
boundaries to integrate into ongoing research on large-scale climate diagnostics, and
modeling and characterizing extreme hydrologic events. The candidate is expected to
develop a research program that secures extramural funds and achieves national and
international recognition.

The individual will mentor and advise graduate students and post-doctoral researchers
from diverse backgrounds, and teach one or more undergraduate and graduate courses
in the broad area of atmospheric and climate science, and play a role in evolution climate
science education at USU. Crucial to the position is articulating the nature, scope, and
implications of paleo climate in the context of past, present, and future climate variability
to a wide range of scientific but also lay audiences.

Dept/College Highlights:
Utah State University is the land-grant and space-grant university of Utah. USU is in
Logan City, offering the amenities of a college town within the Cache Valley metropolitan
zone of 115,000 people. Cache Valley is a 90-minute freeway drive north of Salt Lake
City, positioned along the scenic Wasatch Mountains and Bear River Range. The region
offers a bonanza of outdoor activities within minutes of campus, and is a day’s drive of
seven national parks.

Minimum/Preferred Qualifications:
1) An earned Ph.D. in fields such as, but not limited to, meteorology, climatology,
geography, forestry, or ecology, with experience in utilizing proxies for paleo climate
analysis, with an emphasis on tree ring chronologies

2) Have working knowledge, experience, or training in dendrochronology,
dendrohydrology, tree physiology, and climatology with a corresponding publication
record

3) Ability to develop an externally funded research program based on innovative and
transformative research

4) Experience and interest to teach under- and post-graduate level classes

5) Adept at articulating science within and outside the classroom at multiple scales to
diverse audiences

6) Familiarity with other climate proxy data to augment tree ring chronologies is
desirable.

7) Additional weight given to those candidates with degree training in climate or
atmospheric science

8) Associate professor-level candidates must have a demonstrated track record of
international experience and a commensurate level of refereed publications and
extramural research funding