Assistant Professor of Entomology​/Insect Ecology

Brief Position Overview

The Department of Research Centers encompasses faculty and staff that conduct agricultural research and outreach programs at seven off-campus research centers placed strategically throughout Montana. This tenure track position is located at Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center (WTARC) 10 miles north of Conrad (pop. 2,800) and 70 miles north of Great Falls in the agricultural production area known as the “Golden Triangle”.

WTARChas 75 acres of rainfed and irrigated land utilized for research trials in rotation with production crops. Infrastructure includes an office building, a complete line of research equipment for conducting applied research, an equipment storage/shop facility, a seed processing lab, and a greenhouse/headhouse facility built in 2021. A lateral move irrigation system with precision control will be installed for the 2026 crop year.

When fully staffed, WTARChouses two tenure-track scientists, a variety testing lead, a farm operation manager, along with administrative and research support personnel. Field and greenhouse research is conducted at the center and at on-farm locations primarily within the seven surrounding counties. Important dryland crops include winter and spring wheat, durum, malt barley, oilseeds, legumes, and forages. Wheat, malt barley, canola, and alfalfa are the primary irrigated crops produced on nearly 100,000 acres in a regional irrigation project.

A local advisory board, comprised of area farmers and industry representatives, provides input on establishing WTARC research priorities.

Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center seeks a talented and self-motivated scientist who will lead the development of effective and economical strategies for controlling insect pests of dryland and irrigated field crops in the region. The successful candidate will use a team approach that includes other research staff at WTARC and across the department with expertise in agronomy, animal and crop science, horticulture, microbiology, pathology, plant ecology, precision agriculture, soil and weed sciences.

Similar collaboration with other researchers located on the main campus in Bozeman and at other institutions is encouraged. This person is expected to contribute positively to the mission of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES). This is a 12-month tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level with research (80%), teaching/outreach (10%) and service (10%) responsibilities funded by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, Bozeman, MT.

Research duties include the development of a nationally competitive, field-oriented program focused on understanding the biological and ecological processes affecting insect pests and sharing this knowledge to inform management that mitigates crop losses. The primary focus will be on arthropod pests of small-grain, pulse, and oilseed crops in the Golden Triangle and similar agro-ecoregions. Current insect pests of concern include the wheat stem sawfly and wireworms in wheat, pea leaf weevils in pulses, and flea beetles in canola, among others.

We anticipate that integrated approaches will be developed which are economical and can be adopted by dryland and irrigated farmers for managing arthropod pests in field crops.

Teaching/outreach duties include the timely transfer of knowledge regarding insect pest management to farmers and other stakeholders in the region served by WTARC, as well as other farmers across Montana. Participation at field days, Extension meetings, and other farmer-directed events is expected as part of the teaching/outreach effort. Scholarly presentations of research results at professional scientific meetings are an additional expectation.

The successful candidate will participate in training graduate and undergraduate students as well as technical staff.

The successful candidate is expected to collaborate with other scientists, educators, farmers and related industry, advisory and commodity groups to develop research priorities and actively participate in developing recommendations for management of crop insect pests…