Assistant Professor of Geospatial Science and Technology

Job Description:

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Geospatial Science and Technology, beginning fall 2024. We are most interested in applicants with experience in topics including, but not limited to, spatial analysis and statistics, spatial optimization, remote sensing, uncrewed systems technology, intelligent systems, machine and deep learning, data science, geocomputation, geodatabases, or any other geospatial data science technique. Applicants should enhance the core strengths of our Department in areas such as geospatial science, Earth system science, physical geography, geomorphology, human-environment interactions, land use/land cover change, hydrology, geophysics, field geology, isotope geoscience, geologic resources, and planetary science.

The successful candidate will be expected to attract research funding from external sources. Graduate courses that are relevant to the Department's Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Information Science and Technology (https://www.utep.edu/science/gist/program/program.html), which attracts students from across campus, are especially desired. In addition to advising M.S. and Ph.D. students from the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Resource Sciences, the selected candidate will have the opportunity to participate in the interdisciplinary Environmental Science and Engineering and Computational Science Ph.D. programs, as well as the Data Science Ph.D. program. Salary for this Assistant Professor position will be commensurate with experience.

Requirements:

Required Qualifications: The Department of Earth, Environmental, and Resource Sciences is hiring a faculty member with expertise in Geospatial Science and Technology who is capable of teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, conducting fundamental and/or applied research, building an active research portfolio, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and mentoring students at all levels. A Ph.D. in any relevant field at the time of appointment is required.

Preferred Qualifications: Candidates with strong skills in geospatial data science and the capacity to engage in the interdisciplinary Computational and Data Science programs are encouraged to apply.  A track record of peer-reviewed publications, attainment of research funding, and teaching experience would be viewed favorably. Demonstrated interdisciplinary research collaborations are valued as well.

About The University of Texas at El Paso:

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is America's leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, UTEP is a comprehensive public research university that is increasing access to excellent higher education. We advance discovery of public value and positively impact the health, culture, education, and economy of the community we serve. Eighty-four percent of our students are Hispanic, and half of our undergraduates are the first in their families to go to college. Deeply woven into the University's character are the distinctive strengths of the people whom we serve. At UTEP, our 24,000 students have access to 169 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs in nine colleges and schools.

Located in the second-most educated city in Texas, UTEP is recognized as one of the best research universities in the country for connecting students with the community around them. UTEP is one of only four institutions in Texas to hold both the top research (R1) and Community Engaged designations from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. With more than $130 million in total annual research expenditures, UTEP is ranked among the best universities in the country for research and fourth in Texas for federal research expenditures at public universities. UTEP employs more than 5,000 faculty, staff, and students. It has one of the lowest out-of-pocket costs of any research university in the U.S., underscoring its commitment to offer an exceptional education for all our students.

Set against the backdrop of the Franklin Mountains in the Chihuahuan Desert, UTEP is located along the U.S.-Mexico border in one of the world's largest binational communities. UTEP's award-winning, sustainably-designed campus landscape and unique Bhutanese architecture create an energizing and tranquil oasis in the bustling El Paso-Ciudad Juárez metroplex of more than 2 million residents. El Paso is a highly livable, bicultural community of more than 800,000 people that offers affordable homes and attractive neighborhoods. It has been repeatedly named among the safest large U.S. cities and is one of the largest bilingual communities in the Western Hemisphere.

The City of El Paso is adjacent to the state of New Mexico and the country of Mexico, making it an ideal venue for academic programs and research studies on topics of national interest, such as bilingual education/language acquisition, border environment and immigration, environmental sustainability and infrastructure, health disparities, and international trade and commerce. The Paso del Norte region's center for intellectual capital, UTEP is one of the major economic engines in the region, adding more than $1.4 billion to the local economy annually.

El Paso experiences almost 300 days of sunshine annually, and residents enjoy outdoor activities year-round. El Paso's active arts and culture community features the state's longest-running symphony orchestra, a nationally recognized chamber music festival, art galleries, museums, and a full schedule of seasonal events and festivals. UTEP adds to the arts and entertainment scene with an award-winning dinner theater, music and dance productions, contemporary and student art galleries, and a natural history museum. For sports fans, the UTEP Miners offer exciting Division I college athletics at several campus venues including Sun Bowl Stadium, the Don Haskins Center, Kidd Field, University Field, and the Helen of Troy Softball Complex. Southwest University Park, located a mile away in lively downtown El Paso, is home to the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, and the El Paso Locomotive, a professional soccer team founded in 2019.

About the Department:  

The Department of Earth, Environmental, and Resource Sciences at UTEP is a vibrant group of 21 faculty representing a wide variety of geology, geophysics, hydrology, environmental science, and geography expertise. The degrees the Department offers include the B.S., B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, the B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Science, the B.S. and M.S. in Geophysics, and a minor in Geography. Our Ph.D. in Geological Sciences includes students with interests in any of these subdisciplines. We also support student training in cross-campus interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs including the Environmental Science and Engineering, Computational Science, and Data Science Ph.D. programs and collaborate frequently with human geographers and other faculty in the College of Liberal Arts. The Department research portfolio addresses local to global challenges in the environmental and natural resources fields while taking advantage of our regional geographic setting for research and education. Our integrative and collaborative efforts have resulted in research expenditures of $2.5M per year. Geospatial research has been identified as a key research theme in the Department (https://www.utep.edu/science/geology/research-themes/geospatial-research.html).

The Department of Earth, Environmental, and Resource Sciences occupies an attractive, 90,000-sq. ft. building containing offices, laboratories, and classrooms. The Department has a research computing lab with high-end workstations and extensive computational and software resources, including all major GIS and remote sensing software, and a 19-seat computing training lab. More information about the activities and facilities in the Department can be found at https://www.utep.edu/science/geology/index.html. In addition, we collaborated with faculty in Sociology in the design and development of the Socio-Environmental Geospatial Analysis (SEGA) lab, which houses state-of-the-art equipment for geospatial data analysis and visualization and an additional 19-seat training lab. The collaborative research environment at UTEP affords access to a variety of analytical equipment in the Departments of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Biological Sciences and the Nanomaterials Integration Lab. Interactions with the Center for Environmental Resource Management and other multidisciplinary research centers are encouraged. A new building dedicated to interdisciplinary research opened in 2020.

Additional Information:

Hiring decisions are based upon budget approval.

In keeping with its access, excellence, and impact mission, The University of Texas at El Paso is committed to an open, diverse, and inclusive learning and working environment that honors the talents, respects the differences, and nurtures the growth and development of all. We seek to attract faculty and staff who share our commitment.

The University of Texas at El Paso is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity in employment or the provision of services in accordance with state and federal law. Discrimination on the basis of sex includes an employee's or prospective employee's right to be free from sexual harassment under Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972. Inquiries-including the filing of a Formal Complaint or reporting an incident-about the application of Title IX may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, who can be reached by phone at (915) 747-8358, by email at titleix@utep.edu, or by mail at 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX, Kelly Hall, Room 312.

For accommodation information for employees and applicants with disabilities, please contact UTEP's Equal Opportunity Office at eoaa@utep.edu.

Application Instructions:

Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2023, and applications will continue to be reviewed until the position is filled.  Applications must submit the following:

1. Letter of interest;
2. Curriculum vitae;
3. Description of research interests;
4. Description of teaching interests; and
5. Complete contact information for at least three references.