SIPS is advertising two faculty positions – Controlled Environment Agriculture Crop Physiologist and Plant Synthetic Biologist – with application deadlines in early September 2024. Please share the position links that have been posted on Academic Jobs Online. Abbreviated descriptions of these two positions are displayed below.
Controlled Environment Agriculture Crop Physiologist
Cohort Hire: Revolutionizing Controlled Environment Agriculture
Focus: Crop Physiology
School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University
Position: Assistant Professor, Tenure-track
Application due date: September 5, 2024
The School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University invites applications for a tenure-track position in Crop Physiology (Controlled Environment Agriculture; CEA) at the Assistant Professor level. Our new colleague will join a Cohort Faculty Hire in Revolutionizing Controlled Environment Agriculture. In addition to this advertised hire, the cohort will include an insect ecologist, a plant pathologist, a CEA engineer, and a food systems economist. The new faculty hires will play an integral role in the design of a planned CALS investment in new CEA facilities.
The Revolutionizing Controlled Environmental Agriculture cohort will develop productive and sustainable CEA systems that are energy and resource efficient, resistant to biotic and abiotic stressors, and responsive to changing demographics and food markets. Current production of specialty crops is challenged by a myriad of factors, which are amplified by extreme and erratic climatic events that devastate crops and favor the establishment of invasive pests and diseases. CEA is an expanding approach to address climate change and other challenges for crop production. CEA systems, ranging from partially to fully enclosed facilities, have the potential to provide an extended and more stable environment for food production with enhanced protection against extreme weather events, food-borne pathogens, and pests and diseases. These systems create opportunities for streamlining farm labor and advancing production techniques using artificial intelligence and robotics. CEA systems will also help to stabilize supply-chain issues and export market timing, thus expanding market potential and opportunities to provide more equitable access to food.
We are seeking a candidate who will develop an innovative research and teaching program in crop physiology of food and medicinal specialty crops adapted for controlled environments with economic impact in New York State and beyond. The successful candidate will use novel methodologies, digital tools, and sensors to understand and optimize CEA crop physiology and quality in response to environmental factors towards efficient and sustainable production. CEA systems, such as greenhouses and high tunnels, can offer year-round production and season-extension of high nutrient density fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Controlled environments are also particularly appropriate for nutraceutical or pharmaceutical grade plant products. New crops and changing production technologies are constantly envisioned for CEA and are limited, in part, by cultural management knowledge, productivity, and market demand. The faculty member will develop a nationally/internationally recognized program on production strategies and environmental physiology to maximize crop productivity, environmental sustainability, and economic efficiency. Research opportunities include, but not are limited to, strategies to improve nutritional quality or shelf-life, emphasis on plant secondary metabolism and analytical chemistry within the context of specialty crops, high-throughput phenotyping and crop modeling, energy efficient crop production and CEA systems energy modeling, and development of new crop and management protocols. The successful candidate will work closely with CEA producers, Cornell faculty, and Cornell Cooperative Extension specialists to prioritize research needs and translate results to drive a more profitable and resource-efficient industry resulting in healthier individuals and communities. The candidate is expected to secure funding from sources that include federal agencies, foundations, the private sector, and agricultural interest groups.
Responsibilities: This position has an effort split of 60% research and 40% teaching. Service and advising is an expectation within these effort allocations.
Research (60%). Outstanding research scholarship is expected in crop physiology of specialty crop CEA. The candidate will develop an internationally recognized program in CEA through successful grant writing and professional research reporting. Excellence in and devotion to development of interdisciplinary team-based research and training programs is essential.
Teaching (40%). The candidate will develop undergraduate or graduate courses in their area of expertise. Expectations for teaching at the 40% level typically include teaching 6-7 credits annually. The teaching responsibility could include, but are not limited to, plant physiology of CEA crops, climate control in CEA, or co-teaching a course with the new CEA cohort such as integrated management of biotic and abiotic factors, or advanced CEA systems integrating horticulture, IPM, economics, and engineering.
Inquiries may be directed to: Search chair: Professor Neil Mattson
Plant Synthetic Biologist
Cohort Hire: Harnessing the Power of Synthetic Biology
Focus: Plant Synthetic Biology
School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University
Position: Tenured, Tenure-track
Application due date: September 3, 2024
The School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University is seeking a Plant Synthetic Biologist, whose research is centered on synthetic biology involving photosynthetic organisms, including land plants, algae, cyanobacteria, diatoms, and their microbial communities. Plant synthetic biology is an emerging field that combines engineering principles with plant biology. Plant synthetic biology will play an important role in the future of agriculture for crop improvement, in enabling synthesis of novel products of nutritional, pharmaceutical or other values, as well as in fundamental understanding of plant and plant-microbe community biological processes. The position will leverage advances in nuclear and plastome plant transformation and genome editing technologies that make plant synthetic biology feasible in a way, and on a scale, that is unprecedented. Areas of research may include, but are not limited to: (1) Engineering genetic circuits to program predictable crop plant behaviors and traits; (2) Generating novel plant traits, improved properties, or biosynthetic capacities; (3) Converting land plants, cyanobacteria, algae, or diatoms into platforms that synthesize chemicals and complex biomolecules by reconfiguring existing biosynthetic pathways, introducing pathways from other organisms, or incorporating newly designed pathways; (4) Designing in planta biosensors for rapid detection of, and response to, environmental cues, such as temperature, pathogens, nutrients, chemicals, and toxins; (5) Engineering the growth and developmental trajectories of model plants and crops; and (6) Characterizing and designing microbes or microbial communities at the plant surface, within the plant, or in the soil, and their interactions with the plant.
The CALS Harnessing the Power of Synthetic Biology hiring cohort will design and program new organisms to sustainably produce fuels, food, and medicines. Our new colleagues will join our efforts to advance the field of synthetic biology – the harnessing of genes, proteins and biological machinery – as they explore the development of processes and materials that can fight disease, power society, feed communities, slash greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment for future generations. The cohort includes new faculty across 5 units: Food Science, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Microbiology, and this position in School of Integrative Plant Science.
We are seeking applications for a 9-month, full-time tenure-track position in Plant Synthetic Biology at the assistant professor level. Outstanding research and scholarship are expected, as is excellence in, and commitment to, teaching, advising and inclusive mentoring of students. We seek colleagues with an outstanding record of success and promise across all these areas, and who will contribute to a vibrant culture of inclusive excellence at Cornell. As such, candidates are expected to engage in service and leadership activities within their section, school, the college and university, and relevant professional societies. We welcome candidates who understand the barriers facing women and other marginalized identities who are underrepresented in the classroom and in higher education careers (as evidenced by life experiences and educational background), and who have experience in equity and inclusion with respect to teaching, mentoring, research, outreach, life experiences, or service towards building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment.
Responsibilities: This position has an effort split of 60% research and 40% teaching.
Teaching (40%): Expectations for teaching at the 40% level typically include teaching 6-7 credits annually. The successful candidate will develop a new undergraduate course in plant synthetic biology, which will be a concentration or broadening course in the Plant Sciences major, align with strategic grand challenges of SIPS (Sustainable crop production and food security, Plants and ecosystem health, Plant production and ecosystem services in urban/peri-urban environments, and Biodiversity, evolution, and molecular mechanisms), and attract students from other majors, including Biological Sciences. The candidate will also develop a second undergraduate or graduate course in their area of expertise.
Research (60%): Outstanding research scholarship is expected, as the successful candidate will lead an internationally recognized research program in plant synthetic biology. The candidate is expected to maintain a well-funded research program. Excellence in and commitment to development of multidisciplinary team-based research and training programs is essential.
Inquiries may be directed to: Search chair: Professor Adrienne Roeder
Complete position details