Description

The Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation invites applications for Collegiate Assistant Professor of Forestry. At Virginia Tech, Collegiate professors are full members of the faculty whose responsibilities are focused on teaching. The successful candidate will join Virginia’s only four-year Society of American Foresters-accredited forestry program and will play a highly visible, student-facing role in sustaining core forestry instruction, field-based education, professional preparation, and workforce connections.

We seek an educator with broad forestry expertise, a strong background in forest operations, and the ability to connect classroom and field laboratory instruction with contemporary forestry practices and employer expectations.

Teaching and Mentoring Expectations

The position is expected to carry approximately a 3:3 teaching load, with appropriate consideration of the additional time demands of field laboratory courses. Specific teaching assignments may include some of the following courses, depending on program needs and the professional experience and expertise of the successful candidate:

•         FREC 2214 Introduction to Land and Field Measurements
•         FREC 3714 Forest Harvesting
•         FREC 3724 Forest Boundaries and Roads
•         FREC 3734 Forest Fiber Supply
•         FREC 4004 Professional Skills in Natural Resources
•         FREC 4714 Harvesting Systems Evaluation.

The successful candidate may also contribute to a first-year experience course, forestry courses for non-majors, a forestry capstone course, or study-abroad experiences, as appropriate, within the approximately 3:3 teaching workload expectation. 

Research, Scholarship, Extension, and Engagement Expectations

For a Collegiate faculty appointment, approximately 5–10% of effort may support pedagogical or disciplinary scholarship and collaborative research. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to curriculum development and revision, student mentoring, experiential learning, and engagement with forestry employers and stakeholders. Participation in Forestry Extension activities is possible but not required.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Doctorate by time of appointment in forestry, natural resources, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated professional or academic expertise sufficient to teach the above-listed courses, with emphasis on forest operations courses.
• Demonstrated commitment to deliver high-quality, field-based and experiential undergraduate education.
• Strong communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional forestry credentials
• Operational experience, or substantial engagement with forest industry, agencies, consulting, or land management organizations.
• Experience as instructor of record for undergraduate field or laboratory courses.