Assistant Professor of Public Lands Management / Natural Resource Governance, Utah State University

Moab, UT

Position Title: Assistant Professor of Public Lands Management / Natural Resource Governance

Organization: Utah State University 

Location: Moab, UT

Position Overview: The Department of Environment and Society (ENVS) (https://qcnr.usu.edu/envs/), in the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR) (https://qcnr.usu.edu/) at Utah State University (USU), invites applications for a broadly trained scholar in public lands management/natural resource governance as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. We are especially interested in candidates who are excited to build a robust online and hybrid teaching portfolio from the Moab Campus. We are also interested in candidates capable of supporting the evolution of the Recreation Resource Management degree within ENVS. This full-time (nine-month) faculty position is based at USU’s Moab Statewide Campus (https://statewide.usu.edu/moab/) in Moab, Utah, where ENVS currently has a cluster of three other faculty. This is a faculty position with teaching (50%), research (40%), and service (10%) roles

Duties: 

The successful candidate will:
  • Develop and deliver educational programs from USU-Moab with the potential to capitalize on Moab’s unique landscape and land use history. The teaching expectation for the position is three to four courses per year, or its equivalent. Teaching includes a potential mix of statewide delivery of online, video conferencing, and/or in-person experiential courses.
  • Build a community-engaged teaching and research program (://www.usu.edu/cel/). 
  • Mentor graduate students in ENVS’s MS and PhD graduate degree programs as well as in QCNR’s Master of Natural Resources program.
  • Participate in faculty duties for USU as well as serve through professional involvement beyond USU. 
 The successful candidate may also serve as a Faculty Fellow in the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism (https://extension.usu.edu/iort/), which provides resource management personnel, elected officials, private industries, and the general public with a better understanding of the social and economic trade-offs faced by communities who manage outdoor recreation resources and tourism destinations. The successful candidate can also apply to be a Faculty Fellow in USU’s interdisciplinary Ecology Center and/or participate in the Climate Adaptation Science program, both of which involve ENVS.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:  
  • Earned Ph.D. at date of hire in a field closely related to public lands management or natural resource governance (e.g., conservation social science, recreation resource management, applied geography, public policy, etc.). 
  • Demonstrated experience, ability, and/or interest in teaching about and within the context of public lands management/natural resource governance.
  • Training and/or experience within the social sciences providing the ability to teach courses within ENVS’s undergraduate curriculum.
Preferred Qualifications: 
  • Experience in developing and delivering innovative and inclusive courses. 
  • Experience with or the desire to employ distance and online course delivery. 
  • Evidence of ability to develop and conduct a research program related to public lands management/natural resource governance including securing competitive external funding.
  • Demonstrated interest in working with local, state, and federal agencies and other organizations in the management of outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism, especially in southeastern Utah.
  • Research background and interests that will broaden existing faculty strengths in public lands management/natural resource governance. 
  • Publication record consistent with career stage.
  • Demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate in an interdisciplinary academic setting. 
  • Demonstrated ability to contribute to the access mission of USU as a land-grant university through the inclusion of individuals from all backgrounds through education, research, outreach, and service.
  • Experience with enabling and encouraging participation of non-academic audiences in research and teaching. ENVS values community engagement, integrating it into the departmental mission, climate, and culture.

Start/End Dates: August 2025

Salary/Pay: Commensurate with experience and education, plus excellent benefit

Application Deadline: Review of applications begins November 1, 2024

How to Apply: Please use the online application to view the full job description as well as how to apply.