Assistant Professor Position (Tenure Track) in Biological Oceanography/Marine Ecology

The Department of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, seeks applications from marine ecologists and biological oceanographers who will develop an innovative and highly visible research program that benefits from and complements existing strengths within the Department and across campus. We seek applicants from diverse fields and backgrounds, including but not limited to biologically-mediated coastal and ocean processes, community and ecosystems ecology, population genetics and evolution, fisheries ecology and modeling, biological/physical coupling, and biogeography.

The Department of Marine Sciences (MASC) on campus in Chapel Hill and the coastal Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Morehead City form the Marine Sciences Program.  The program has 25 full-time faculty members. The hired individual will be based in Chapel Hill at MASC, but will have access to the facilities at IMS.

The Marine Sciences Program strongly supports collaboration amongst MASC and IMS faculty, which enables the faculty to take full advantage of the transformative and state-of-the-art instrumentation and facilities at both locations.  Existing collaborations include research in microbial biogeochemistry (microbial biogeochemists, marine biogeochemists, and microbial ecologists utilizing novel on-campus sequencing technology); coral reef systems (marine geochemists, carbonate geologists, marine ecologists); population, community, conservation, and evolutionary biology of marine plant and invertebrate communities; long-term ocean observation systems; small- and meso-scale ocean dynamics, air-sea interactions, circulation and bio-physical modeling using field and laboratory-based systems; and global ocean-climate change, including interdisciplinary impacts of sea level rise on estuarine and coastal geomorphology, biogeochemistry, and ecological processes.  For more information, see http://www.marine.unc.edu/Research/.

Opportunities also exist for collaboration with Departments across the Chapel Hill campus, particularly the Biology and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Departments, and the Carolina Center for Interdisciplinary Mathematics. Experimental work can be conducted at the joint Marine Sciences/Mathematics Fluids Dynamics Laboratory.  The successful applicant will have the opportunity to work closely with the Institute for the Environment (http://www.ie.unc.edu) through their rigorous experiential learning programs (one such program is conducted at IMS) and their interdisciplinary approach toward solving environmental problems. The successful applicant will also be a faculty member in the Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology (CEE; http://www.cee.unc.edu) and will teach one course per year that is relevant to the CEE.

Starting in 2010, MASC will occupy significantly enlarged quarters in the new Science Complex.  The advertised position includes new laboratory and office space, space for students and postdocs, and shared facilities including a stable isotope mass spectrometry facility, shop space, a variable temperature lab, a freezer/incubator storage room, a cold room, a temperature-controlled rooftop greenhouse, a radioactive materials lab, and a new fluid dynamics lab. MASC Department members with research interests in coastal North Carolina waters are typically provided access to shared facilities and dedicated lab space at the IMS.  IMS is housed in newly constructed and renovated facilities on the shore of Bogue Sound and maintains a 48 ft research vessel and a fleet of smaller boats to access coastal waters for research and training. The Duke-UNC Oceanographic Consortium shares management of the UNOLS vessel Cape Hatteras, which can provide UNC faculty access to ship time for training cruises on a competitive basis.

The successful candidate will be expected to teach at the graduate and undergraduate levels (including rotating or co-teaching a core graduate-level course in Biological Oceanography) establish an externally funded research program, attract and train graduate students, and publish with high impact in peer-reviewed journals.

Review of applications will begin on January 1^st 2010, but the search will continue until the position is filled.  Appointment will be made at the Assistant Professor level.