Assistant Professor of Specialty Crop and Ornamental Plant Breeding

Assistant Professor of Specialty Crop and Ornamental Plant Breeding

Job No: 536523
Work Type: Full Time
Location: Orange
Categories: Biology/Life Science, Agricultural Sciences
Department:  - AG-MREC-APOPKA

Job Description

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. We particularly welcome applicants who can contribute to such an environment through their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and professional service. If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call  or the Florida Relay System at  (TDD) or visit Accessibility at UF.

This is a 12-month tenure-accruing position that will be 80% Research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 20% Extension (UF/IFAS), at the Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit. Tenure will accrue in the Department of Horticultural Sciences.

The successful candidate will develop an extramurally funded, nationally-recognized research and extension program emphasizing breeding of specialty and ornamental crops. The program will use both traditional and advanced methods for improving quality traits, abiotic and biotic stress (disease/insect) resistance and improving aesthetic quality of crops through consumer-friendly precision breeding and/or other similar genetic techniques. The program will focus on developing specialty crops that can be grown in greenhouse or other protected culture.

As appropriate, the incumbent may also work on fruit crops. This faculty member will integrate into the existing genetic program emphasizing precision breeding and environmental crop tissue and cell culture programs and be expected to work in partnership with other inter- and intradepartmental faculty members as well as lead industry groups to develop a competitive research program. The incumbent is expected to collaborate with horticulturists, entomologists, plant pathologists, geneticists and plant breeders, to develop horticulturally desirable end-products for consumers.

The incumbent will also be expected to obtain extramurally funding to support the breeding program and graduate students. This faculty member will participate in UF/IFAS Extension programming through the development and teaching of extension materials for outreach to Florida stakeholders. The faculty member is expected to publish research and extension results in national and international refereed and non-refereed journals.

Tenure will accrue in the Department of Horticultural Sciences. The successful candidate will participate actively in graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis and dissertation research, and publishing research results with students. The faculty member will actively seek contract and grant funding to support his/her program. Involvement in national and international professional societies is expected.

Because of the IFAS land-grant mission, all faculty are expected to be supportive of and engaged in all three mission areas - Research, Teaching and Extension - regardless of the assignment split specified in the position description.

Background Information
:

The UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center (MREC) in Apopka, Florida is one of 12 University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Research and Education Centers. Located in the heart of Florida (just north of Orlando), the MREC is a center for research, teaching, and extension programs. The Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida has a variety of research, teaching, and extension programs with focus areas including Plant Physiology and Biochemistry;
Plant Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology;
Crop Production and Management;
Postharvest Biology and Technology;
Organic and Sustainable Horticulture; and Weed Science. IFAS emphasizes Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, Plant Breeding and Genetics, and related expertise; emphasis is placed on developing cultivars adapted to…