Assistant Professor/Meteorological Data Scientist

Position Title: Assistant Professor/Meteorological Data Scientist

Employee Classification: LC Faculty TT/TN 9m

College/Division: Agricultural,Consumer & Env Sci Col

Department: 301400-PLANT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Internal or External Search: External - Open to all applicants

Location: Las Cruces

Offsite Location (If Applicable):

• Target Hourly/Salary Rate:  Commensurate on experience
• Appointment Full-time Equivalency:  1.0
• Exempt or Non-Exempt:  Exempt

Summary:  We are inviting applications for an Assistant Professor, Meteorological Data Scientist.
This position will assist in maintaining the climatic database and providing data to state, regional, and national stakeholders and will design procedures to improve weather-related data dissemination.

Classification Summary:
The Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PES) and the Department of Animal and Range Sciences (ANRS) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at New Mexico State University (NMSU) invite applications for an Assistant Professor, Meteorological Data Scientist.

Classification Standard Duties:
Assist in maintaining the climatic database and providing data to state, regional, and national stakeholders; evaluate and validate data generated from the remote weather station network, ZiaMet, and ensure data quality (QA/QC). The faculty member will design procedures to improve weather-related data dissemination.

• Required Education, Experience, Certification/License, Equivalency
• Ph.D. (awarded by hire date} in the atmospheric sciences or data science with experience and interest in applied climatology.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Successful candidate will demonstrate a commitment to excellence and specific evidence of:
-Ability to code in scientific programming languages, e.g., Python, R, Matlab, that support meteorological and/or climatological data analysis, with a background in data science and statistics, and familiarity with machine learning approaches.
-Ability to design and implement research projects, including analyzing data and disseminating project results.
-Write grant proposals and obtain external funding.
-Ability to communicate effectively, both in writing and verbally, with appropriate stakeholder audiences.
Ability to organize and direct multiple concurrent activities.

Job Duties and Responsibilities
This position is 100% Research and will hold a joint appointment in the Plant &
Environmental Science (PES) and Animal & Range Sciences (ANRS) departments, and be administratively responsible to the Department Heads of those units. Tenure and promotion of the position will be granted by the PES Department. The candidate will be 75% PES and 25% ANRS specifically in the range science group.

The Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PES) and the Department of Animal and Range Sciences (ANRS) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at New Mexico State University (NMSU) invite applications for an Assistant Professor, Meteorological Data Scientist (Tenure Accruing) position. The incumbent is expected to establish an internationally recognized, externally funded research program, mentor graduate and undergraduate students, and participate in university, professional, and societal service needs. This position seeks candidates that are well-versed in analytics of large datasets. The successful candidate will have access and be expected to use data generated by the weather stations and data available from other sources to support stakeholder decisions relative to agricultural production and natural resource decisions. The successful candidate will assist in maintaining the climatic database and providing data to state, regional, and national stakeholders. Additionally, the successful candidate will evaluate and validate data generated from the remote weather station network, ZiaMet, and ensure data quality (QA/QC). The faculty member will design procedures to improve weather-related data dissemination.

Success in this position requires excellence and expertise that strengthens the university's capacity to engage students, community members, and affiliated scientists on issues of applied climatology. It is envisioned that the faculty member will establish a nationally recognized program in applied climatology. In addition, applied research and development of decision-support analytics using data from available secondary sources, including data from New Mexico's vast ZiaMet weather station network.

Specific requirements of the position include:
•Cooperate with state and federal agencies in activities related to climatic studies and advisory services.
•Conduct research on climate, particularly in areas that impact agriculture and water resources; provide climatic information to researchers, extension faculty, agricultural producers, state, federal, and local agencies, the public, and other interested individuals; publish reports on New Mexico's climate.
•Demonstrated ability to design, implement, and publish scientific experiments.
•Acquire external funding to support, develop, and implement research programs.
•Mentor undergraduate and graduate students.
•Maintain and update the climatic database; acquire climatic data from external sources; maintain a website to provide climate data and information pertinent to New Mexico.
•Evaluate, validate, and maintain data quality (QA/QC} for a remote weather station network consisting of more than 200 remote weather stations located throughout New Mexico.
•Design improved procedures for disseminating climatic information.
•Represent NMSU and provide leadership at meetings dealing with state or regional climate activities.
•Collaborate with scientists in ACES and other colleges in associate programs related to data interactions in meteorology and climate, with crop science and water management.
•Build teams within the College and University that are needed to manage large data sets.
-This position also supports the mission and goals of the Center of Excellence in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems (CESFAS).

The Plant and Environmental Sciences (PES) Department is part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, which is home to seven other academic departments, five extension departments, and approximately 150 faculty members and 1,800 students. PES consists of approximately 46 faculty and research scientists, and 160 undergraduate and 40 graduate students (MS and PhD). Teaching and research concentrations in PES include environmental, water and soil sciences, agronomy, horticulture, plant breeding and genetic improvement, molecular biology, plant physiology, and ecology. An active mentoring program is in place for new faculty to onboard with senior faculty and successfully progress through the faculty ranks. Research opportunities exist across NMSU's network of 12 Agricultural Science Centers located around the state,
including several facilities near the NMSU main campus. Core facilities for microscopy, advanced chemical and omics analysis, and high-performance computing are available to complement laboratory, greenhouse, and field experimental facilities. Opportunities exist to participate in undergraduate and graduate training programs sponsored by USDA, NIH, NSF, and HSI/MSI programs. Additionally, NMSU actively participates with numerous
state, tribal and federal agencies. For more information on PES, see https://pes.nmsu.edu.

The Department of Animal and Range Sciences (ANRS) (https://aces.nmsu.edu/academics/anrs/) is an interdisciplinary department encompassing degree programs in animal and range sciences. The degrees granted include bachelors, masters, and PhDs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Special Requirements of the Position
• *The following documents are required. Please include on the application:
• -Your resume/cv
• -Cover letter
• -Transcript
• -Statement of research interests (2 page maximum)

Department Contact:  Kenneth Caroll, 575-646-5929, kccarr@nmsu.edu

Contingent Upon Funding: Not Applicable

Bargaining Unit Eligibility: This is NOT a bargaining unit position with American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Standard Work Schedule: Standard (M-F, 8-5)

If Not a Standard Work Schedule: 

Working Conditions And Physical Effort

Environment: Work is normally performed in a typical interior/office work environment.

Physical Effort: No or very limited physical effort required.

Lifting Requirements: Requires handling of average-weight objects up to 10 pounds or some standing or walking.

Risk: No or very limited exposure to physical risk.