Assistant Professor of Specialty Crop and Ornamental Plant Breeding

Classification Title:

Ast Prof

Classification Minimum Requirements:

Candidates for this rank shall hold the highest degree appropriate to their field. A candidate shall be expected to demonstrate successful experience pertinent to the position they are being recommended and have demonstrated qualities relevant to the goals of the academic unit in which they will be employed.

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 80% Research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 20% Extension (UF/IFAS), at the Mid-Florida 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 Horticultural Sciences.

The successful candidate will develop an extramurally funded, nationally-recognized research and extension program emphasizing breeding of specialty and ornamental crops.  The program will use both traditional and advanced methods for improving quality traits, abiotic and biotic stress (disease/insect) resistance and improving aesthetic quality of crops through consumer-friendly precision breeding and/or other similar genetic techniques.  The program will focus on developing specialty crops that can be grown in greenhouse or other types of protected culture.  As appropriate, the incumbent may also work on fruit crops as well.  This faculty member will integrate into the existing genetic program emphasizing precision breeding and environmental crop tissue and cell culture programs and be expected to work in partnership with other inter- and intradepartmental faculty members as well as lead industry groups to develop a competitive research program.  The incumbent is expected to collaborate with horticulturists, entomologists, plant pathologists, geneticists and plant breeders, to develop horticulturally desirable end-products for consumers.

The incumbent will also be expected to obtain extramurally funding to support the breeding program and graduate students. This faculty member will participate in UF/IFAS Extension programming through the development and teaching of extension materials for outreach to Florida stakeholders.  The faculty member is expected to publish research and extension results in national and international refereed and non-refereed journals.

Tenure will accrue in the Department of Horticultural Sciences.  The successful candidate will participate actively in graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis and dissertation research, and publishing research results with students.  The faculty member will actively seek contract and grant funding to support his/her program. Involvement in national and international professional societies is expected.  

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 UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center (MREC) in Apopka, Florida is one of 12 University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Research and Education Centers. Located in the heart of Florida (just north or Orlando), the MREC is a center for research, teaching, and extension programs.  Originally established as the Central Florida Research & Education Center (CFREC) in the fall of 1986 by administratively combining research centers at Apopka, Leesburg, and Sanford, a new research and education facility was constructed on land next to the old Apopka center in 2005. Today, UF/IFAS MREC serves a large ornamental, nursery and agricultural industry which has historically cooperated with the Center to develop applied research. MREC’s unique 218-acre facility includes two controlled environment facilities, over 130,000 square feet of greenhouses, 20,000 square feet of laboratories, two instructional pest management facilities, and a graduate student dormitory.

The Horticultural Sciences Department at the Uni