The Department of Earth and Climate Sciences at Bates College invites applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professor in Earth Surface Processes. We seek candidates who study interactions between earth surface processes and climate across a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Subdisciplines of interest include, but are not limited to (1) geomorphology and landscape evolution in coastal, fluvial, polar, glacial, urban, and rural settings, (2) paleoclimatology and climate change, and (3) hydrogeology. The new faculty member will teach courses that contribute to the curricula of both the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences and Environmental Studies Program and will establish an active research program involving undergraduate students. The position is set to begin August 1, 2024.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate a commitment to undergraduate education and a commitment to collaboration, collegiality, and building an inclusive academic environment. Candidates with demonstrated success in teaching and/or supporting marginalized, first generation, and historically underrepresented students are especially encouraged to apply. Candidates should show promise of excellence and innovation in both teaching and scholarship.

Candidates should have completed their Ph.D. in the Earth Sciences by August 1st, 2024. Postdoctoral experience is seen as beneficial but is not required. Applicants should demonstrate the ability to teach introductory and advanced courses in earth surface processes. Connections to other disciplines are encouraged, including teaching cross-listed courses and advising theses in the Program in Environmental Studies.

Bates College is a residential liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Details about the college and its community can be found here. Lewiston is a diverse and growing city in Maine, two and a half hours north of Boston and 45 minutes from a burgeoning Portland technology start-up scene that includes the Roux Institute.

Bates supports new faculty with a course reduction in the first year of teaching, formal mentoring, and new-faculty development programming. Bates provides tenure-track faculty with a paid pre-tenure leave and support for post-tenure sabbaticals. Faculty scholarship is supported by start-up packages, the new Bonney Science Center, internal grants, and a robust external grants office. Faculty research is routinely supported by the NSF, NIH, and other external funding sources.

Bates is committed to supporting educational access for all. This work is supported by an HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant to support transforming how we teach STEM, a Schuler Education Foundation Grant to support financial aid for Pell-eligible students, low income, and undocumented students, and a Mellon Foundation Curricular Transformation Grant. Teaching is supported by a new Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning. Community-engaged learning and study abroad are encouraged and robustly supported.

Significant lab space and start-up funding is available, as is a wide range of existing equipment and materials, as well as the support of a professional machinist and machine shop. Two full-time assistants in instruction provide logistical support for the introductory laboratories. College-wide facilities include a staff-supported High Performance Computing Center, Visualization Lab, and a Digital Media Studio, and GIS and mobile GIS capabilities among other facilities. Departmental facilities include the Quaternary and Sedimentology Laboratory with a Beckman Coulter Laser Particle Size Analyzer, staff-supported use of the Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory with an EA/GC-C-IRMS and an ICP-OES, and a Paleoseismology lab with high-precision Real Time Kinematic GPS (RTK-GPS) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).

Maine is particularly well suited for teaching and research in glaciated, riverine, lacustrine and coastal/shelf systems. The Bates Morse Mountain Conservation Area is 600+ acres of contiguous beach, dune, salt marsh and upland forest ecosystems and presents numerous teaching and research opportunities.

The standard teaching load at Bates is 5 course units per academic year, where labs get counted as 0.5 courses. The teaching load is reduced to four courses in the first year of a tenure-track appointment. Faculty at Bates also advise senior theses and capstone seminars and contribute courses that support the general education curriculum, including first-year seminars. Candidates may find information about current Bates salaries and benefits in Part 2 of the Faculty Handbook.

Application Instructions

To receive full consideration, candidates should submit their applications by November 7, 2023. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Applicants should submit electronically, via Interfolio, a cover letter addressing interest in the position and Bates College, a curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching philosophy and interests that also addresses equity and inclusion, and a research statement that includes a proposed research program and plans for involving undergraduates in a research program. Applicants should also anticipate providing three letters of recommendation in the event that they are contacted for an interview.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Candidates should have completed their Ph.D. in the Earth Sciences by August 1st, 2024. 

About Bates College

Founded in 1855, Bates is one of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, with a long history of commitments to principles of human dignity and diversity.Since its inception, Bates has been a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor and to programs and opportunities by qualified learners of all backgrounds. Historically, Bates students and graduates have linked education with service, leadership, and obligations beyond themselves.Bates has highly competitive admission, graduates over 90% of its entering students, and over half of its alumni earn graduate degrees. Bates has 1,700 students, 200 faculty members and 550 staff and administrative employees.The College is proud of its strong involvements in the Lewiston-Auburn communities, Maine’s second largest urban area, with a population of approximately 65,000. Bates is located on a beautiful, 109-acre, traditional New England campus in Lewiston, Maine, a lively small city enjoying an exciting economic and cultural revitalization. With an engaged citizenry, lively arts scene, and historic downtown, this walkable city is 35 miles north of Portland, 140 miles north of Boston, and 340 miles north of New York City.

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