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SUNY ESF Announces Interdisciplinary Cluster Hiring Initiative
The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF)—the most distinguished institution in the nation focused on the study of the environment—is moving forward with its first round of a new Cluster Hiring Initiative. Academic cluster hiring will help ESF meet its strategic goals to drive faculty diversity, increase student experiential learning, and grow the impact of institutional research.
"After several months of planning, we have created a pathway to help advance ESF's mission of highly impactful research on environmental sustainability while helping to address our enrollment goals and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion," said Dr. Samuel Mukasa, ESF's executive vice president and provost. "Not only does this initiative empower ESF to remain competitive, but it will irrefutably complement our existing expertise and expand our research capabilities."
The College is looking to hire faculty members in some interdisciplinary areas tackling the grand challenges humanity is confronted with, first focusing on Urban Sustainability, Water, and Bioeconomy. ESF faculty led the cluster-hiring initiative, which resulted in nine proposals for evaluation. Three have been funded and the remaining six will be considered during future rounds of competition.
"Cluster hiring is a forward-looking approach that has worked well at many institutions across the country and has often provided a built-in collaborative and peer-mentoring scheme," said ESF President Joanie Mahoney. "This is a step in the right direction for ESF to help us strategically build a more diverse team of academic experts to help solve global environmental challenges."
Urban Sustainability Cluster Area
This cluster will be composed of three new tenure-track faculty positions based in ESF's Chemistry, Environmental Studies, and Landscape Architecture departments, each requiring teaching, research, and service.
New faculty will work with an existing team committed to generating actionable science, offering experiential student learning opportunities, and advancing the socio-ecological paradigm as applied to urban sustainability.
Water Cluster Area
This cluster will be composed of five new tenure-track faculty positions, based in ESF's Environmental Resources Engineering, Sustainable Resources Management, Chemistry, Environmental Biology, and Environmental Studies departments.
New faculty will join existing researchers who are focused on the challenges associated with sustainable access to water resources in the coming decades to work toward goals including the improved understanding of aquatic ecosystems, as well as equitable strategies for watershed stewardship.
Bioeconomy Cluster Area
This cluster will be composed of five new tenure-track faculty positions, based in ESF's Sustainable Resources Management and Chemistry departments.
New faculty will join existing researchers who are focused on the bioenergy space with cutting-edge work on short-rotation woody crops, conversion of woody biomass to biofuels, and technoeconomic and life-cycle assessment of these systems.
To learn more about ESF's open cluster hire positions, please visit this page.