Society of Systematic Biologists

California State University, Northridge (CSUN) seeks an evolutionary biologist for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biology, starting August 2011. Applicants must have a Ph.D. and postdoctoral experience. The successful candidate shall develop a vigorous research program involving undergraduate and M.S. students, seek extramural research funding, and demonstrate teaching excellence. A research focus on patterns or processes of diversification among species or populations is preferred. Teaching options include a course on the diversity of a group of terrestrial organisms, molecular systematics, evolution, and introductory biology. Applicants shall also be screened on how well they complement existing strengths in the department.

The Department of Biology has 31 full-time faculty, about half of which conduct research and teach in diverse areas of ecology and evolutionary biology. We are strongly committed to offering students research experiences in testing evolutionary ideas and teaching courses in field biology. Applicants who have broad accomplishments addressing a variety of evolutionary ideas will be expected to become excellent instructors of either our core upper-division course Evolutionary Biology or the Principles of Biology I course, which is devoted to ecology and evolution. Available organismal courses include Non-flowering Plants, Flowering Plants, Entomology, Vertebrate Biology, Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, or Herpetology. Other courses include Bioinformatics, Biometry, Field Ecology, or Biology of Deserts. New course development is also a possibility. It is desired that the successful candidate establish a vigorous research lab and collaborate with others in the department using molecular tools to address questions related to biological diversity.

The successful applicant will have a private office and laboratory space in a new science building (opened in 2009) with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, a common molecular genetics laboratory, equipment rooms, herbarium, invertebrate and vertebrate collections, greenhouse, and vivarium. Salary/benefits and startup packages are very competitive.

Approximately 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles, CSUN lies in the heart of the San Fernando Valley. The campus is bordered by five mountain ranges, numerous state and national parks, and lies less than one hour from the Pacific Ocean and two hours from the Mojave Desert.

Applicant screening begins on 15 September 2010. Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae (including teaching experiences), statements of research interest and teaching philosophy, three publications, and arrange for three letters of recommendations to be sent to evosearch@csun.edu (all-electronic applications are strongly preferred), or Evolutionary Biologist Search Committee, Department of Biology, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330-8303. For additional information visit: http://www.csun.edu/facultyaffairs/openings/sm/.