Assistant Professor of Urban Entomology

Classification Title:

Ast Prof

Job Description:

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. We particularly welcome applicants who can contribute to such an environment through their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and professional service. If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 352-392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at 800-955-8771 (TDD) or visit Accessibility at UF .

This is a 12 month tenure-accruing position that will be 60% Extension (Florida Cooperative Extension Service) and 40% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and available in the Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida.  This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit. Tenure will accrue in the Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Duties will include establishing a robust extension program that addresses the needs of stakeholders regarding pests of the urban and built environment.  This program is intended to focus on urban and structural pest identification and management to reduce economic losses and impact of pestiferous species as per the needs of local industries, business owners, and the general public. It will further include providing support to a large consortium of stakeholders within the pest management industry and developing training programs that implement solutions that enable pest control providers to adapt to an ever-changing urban pest context. 

The successful candidate will develop an extramurally-funded research program that addresses issues related to general urban and household pests and/or wood destroying organisms in tropical and subtropical build environments. The faculty member will seek contract and grant funding actively to support their program.

Urban pest management is a strength at UF with 8 urban entomology faculty members and the incumbent will interact and synergize with these urban pest management programs. Opportunities exist for collaboration with urban entomologists on the Gainesville campus, at UF Research and Education Centers, IFAS County extension, regulators for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the various urban pest management associations in Florida, nationally and internationally.

The successful candidate will participate actively in undergraduate and graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis, dissertation and undergraduate research, and publishing research results with students. Faculty are encouraged to participate in professional development activities related to teaching and advising and may teach courses and seminars.

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.

Background Information:

The Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center is a unit in the Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences at the University of Florida and has diverse teaching, research and extension education programs with 19 faculty members located on the Davie campus, and over 20 support personnel.

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 (counties operate and maintain). The School of Natural Resources and Environment is an interdisciplinary unit housed in IFAS and managed by several colleges on campus.  UF/IFAS employs nearly 4,500 people, which includes approxi