Open Rank Position:  Environmental Engineering in Latin America

The University of Texas at San Antonio

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has embarked on a focused cluster hiring plan to recruit top-tier researchers in interdisciplinary areas of knowledge that will advance the study of Social and Environmental Challenges in Latin America.  Home to some of the largest bioreserves in the world and some of world’s most important biodiversity hotspots, Latin America’s environments are undergoing rapid transformation due to climate change, environmental degradation, and politico-socio-economic transformations across the region.  These forces are coupled in complex ways, and understanding the coupled dynamics of society, climate, and environment in Latin America presents a grand challenge that is fertile ground for transdisciplinary research.

To address this challenge, UTSA is recruiting a cohort of researchers from different disciplines whose research centers on environmental degradation, climate change, and the associated socioeconomic and political challenges and transformations in Latin America and the US-Mexico borderlands. The goal is to foster collaborative and transdisciplinary research to understand and confront the emerging social and environmental challenges facing the region.   This targeted cluster hire will build on and leverage our established research portfolio, propelling our ability to tackle and solve previously unsolvable problems. Hires are expected to build their own unique programs of research, as well as to collaborate with other hires in this cluster and with colleagues in their home department, college, and other colleges.

As part of this cluster, we seek to hire a tenured or tenure-track scholar (Assistant, Associate, or full Professor) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. We seek a scholar who studies strategies to address the environmental challenges exacerbated by climate change in contemporary Latin America. Individuals whose areas of research and teaching include air quality modeling, air quality characterization and assessment, air pollution impact assessment, and air quality and air pollution engineering, especially if related to climate change and environmental sustainability, are particularly encouraged to apply.   The department offers B.S., Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering, and the Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering. The ideal candidate will also create transdisciplinary collaborative synergies among faculty hired as part of this cluster and existing faculty in the College of Engineering, Departments of Geological Sciences and of Environmental Science and Ecology, the Texas Sustainable energy Research Institute (TSERI), and other units across campus. 

Required Qualifications: Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering or a closely related discipline in hand at time of appointment; active research agenda; record of teaching, research, and service appropriate to rank; demonstrated interest in and experience with collaborative teaming and/or transdisciplinary research; desire and ability to contribute to graduate programs; desire and ability to educate and mentor students from a culturally diverse urban population.

For consideration at the rank of Associate Professor, candidates must have a strong record of research and demonstrated teaching and student supervision.  Tenure is contingent on Board of Regents approval.

For consideration at the rank of Professor, candidates must have an exceptional record of research, demonstrated excellence in teaching and student supervision, and experience in university and/or professional service.  Tenure is contingent on Board of Regents approval.

Preferred Qualifications: Professional engineering license or the ability to become licensed is desired; a research and teaching agenda that complements the department's needs; evidence of strong communication skills.

 Responsibilities include: establishing an externally funded research program that will expand the impact of our existing strengths; quality teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels; outreach to the multi-disciplinary scientific community at UTSA and in the San Antonio region; and service for the University, College, and Department.