The College of Science at Virginia Tech seeks applicants for a 9-month research and teaching tenure-track position at any rank in the area of environmental data science as part of a campus-wide Invasive Species cluster hire located at the Blacksburg, VA campus. The position will concentrate on understanding the complex factors that shape invasive species spread, occurrence, and persistence to inform early detection, rapid response, and long-term management of invasive species. The focus of the position is to develop an innovative research program in retrospective and predictive modeling of invasive species at any organismal scale that reconstructs or predicts invasive species risk, spread, and impacts. Research may be applied or basic, empirical or theoretical, focused on known or novel invasive species, and performed at any geographical scale or region. While the search will be jointly conducted with the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Biological Sciences, the successful candidate will choose the department that best suits their preferences and career goals.

The successful candidate will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in their area of expertise in accordance with their home department. Advising and mentoring of both graduate and undergraduate students is expected. Participation in departmental, college, and university affairs and collaboration with faculty both within and across the university is strongly encouraged and expected.

The successful candidate is expected to participate in Virginia Tech’s Invasive Species Collaborative (ISC) as a faculty affiliate. This search is part of a university-wide initiative to foster growth in this existing transdisciplinary research group, working to develop solutions to a complex global problem of invasive species that directly or indirectly impact the lives or livelihoods of people, costing the global economy in excess of $1 trillion annually. The successful candidate is expected to leverage the expertise of the ISC at Virginia Tech and engage in team science with the group as an extension of, or complement to their own research program. The individual will also have the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the ISC to a globally-recognized Center of Excellence at Virginia Tech that focuses on invasive species science, technology, management, outreach, and policy.