Assistant/Associate Professor - Maternal and Child Public Health Nutrition

University of Florida•Gainesville, FL

27d

About The Position

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 352-392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at 800-955-8771 (TDD) or visit Accessibility at UF . This is a 9 month tenure-accruing position that will be 30% teaching (College of Agricultural and Life Sciences), and 70% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station), available in the Department of Animal Sciences, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida. This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit. The position is supported by a competitive salary with benefits including health, life, dental and vision insurance; flexible spending accounts; retirement options; paid holidays and wellness benefits. The Department of Animal Sciences invites applications from qualified individuals to a tenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor level position where they will develop a collaborative and international research program on the impacts of animal-source foods on early childhood development in global health settings. We are seeking candidates who conduct research and integrative studies in global health and food and nutritional security, particularly for women and children, using nutrient-dense foods (animal-source foods, in combination with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, etc.). Successful candidates for this position will use systems thinking and approaches, focus on population-level effects, and combine data acquisition and modeling. The position will consist of research and teaching. Tenure will accrue in the Department of Animal Sciences. The faculty member will seek contract and grant funding actively to support their program. The faculty member will engage in Extension activities in their program area. This position is one of two new faculty positions which will seed a nexus in global health nutrition and food security between Global Food Systems Institute within the Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences and the One Health Center of Excellence (OHCE) within the College of Public Health and Health Professions’ (PHHP) Department of Environmental and Global Health (EGH). These synergistic positions, a food safety epidemiologist in EGH and a public health nutritionist in Animal Sciences, will complement the existing expertise in interdisciplinary research on global food security and nutrition across the lifespan. This position will be held in the Department of Animal Sciences , strengthening the existing research on animal source foods in the human diet. The position will interact with faculty who have an emphasis on the forage consuming species, particularly dairy and beef cattle, small ruminants and their products useful to humankind. There are significant strengths in the Department in the areas of physiology, nutrition, genetics, and muscle biology that will serve as fertile collaborative potential for the incumbent to this position. The Department also has substantial farm facilities for housing beef and dairy cattle and sheep for use by faculty in research, teaching and extension efforts. Additionally, the University maintains excellent facilities for housing laboratory animals. The successful candidate will engage in scholarly activities related to instruction, including teaching undergraduate and/or graduate courses, advising and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, participating in curriculum revision and enhancement, seeking funding for the teaching program, supervising undergraduate and graduate research and creative work, publishing teaching-related scholarship, producing learning tools, and engaging in professional development activities related to teaching and advising. Faculty are encouraged to support and participate in the CALS Honors Program, distance education, and international education. 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.

Requirements

Candidates for this rank shall hold the highest degree appropriate to their field.
A candidate shall be expected to demonstrate successful experience pertinent to the position they are being recommended
Candidates must hold a doctoral degree (foreign equivalent acceptable) in human nutrition epidemiology, public health, animal science or related field by start date.
Candidates must have demonstrated ability to engage in multidisciplinary collaboration.
Candidates are expected to demonstrate dedication to excellence in scholarly achievements as well as evidence of proposal writing, student mentoring, and classroom teaching.
Candidates must be supportive of the mission of the Land-Grant system.
Candidates must also have a commitment to UF core values .

Nice To Haves

Experience with research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Designing and executing longitudinal studies and randomized controlled trials, meta-analysis, population-level modeling is preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop a collaborative and international research program on the impacts of animal-source foods on early childhood development in global health settings.
Conduct research and integrative studies in global health and food and nutritional security, particularly for women and children, using nutrient-dense foods (animal-source foods, in combination with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, etc.).
Use systems thinking and approaches, focus on population-level effects, and combine data acquisition and modeling.
Seek contract and grant funding actively to support their program.
Engage in Extension activities in their program area.
Engage in scholarly activities related to instruction, including teaching undergraduate and/or graduate courses, advising and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, participating in curriculum revision and enhancement, seeking funding for the teaching program, supervising undergraduate and graduate research and creative work, publishing teaching-related scholarship, producing learning tools, and engaging in professional development activities related to teaching and advising.