Job Description

Job Description:

The Department of Earth, Environmental, and Resource Sciences at UTEP is a vibrant group of 20 faculty representing a wide variety of geology, geophysics, hydrology, environmental science, and geography expertise. The degrees the Department offers include the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences, the B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Science, the M.S. in Geophysics, and a minor in Geography. Our Ph.D. in Geological Sciences includes students with interests in any of these subdisciplines. We also support student training in cross-campus interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs including the Environmental Science and Engineering, Computational Science, and Data Science Ph.D. programs and collaborate frequently with the new Mining Engineering program and the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering program of the College of Engineering. The Department research portfolio addresses local to global challenges in the environmental and natural resources fields while taking advantage of our regional geographic setting for research and education. Our integrative and collaborative efforts have resulted in research expenditures of $2.5M per year. The department has a long history in the study of earth and mineral resources and considers professional and entrepreneurial geoscience a research theme (https://www.utep.edu/science/geology/research-themes/professional-geoscience.html).

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences occupies an attractive, 90,000-sq. ft. building containing offices, laboratories, and classrooms. We have mineral separation equipment, a multi-collector ICP-MS, laser ablation ICP-MS, an IRMS, variable-pressure SEM-EDS, scanning micro-XRF and bench-top XRD systems, and a Malvern particle size analyzer. The Department has a research computing lab with high-end workstations. Geophysical research infrastructure includes multiple surface and downhole geophysical tools and extensive computational and software resources. More information about the activities and facilities in the Department can be found at https://www.utep.edu/science/geology/. In addition, the collaborative research environment at UTEP affords access to a variety of analytical equipment in the Departments of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Chemistry, and Biological Sciences and the Nanomaterials Integration Lab. Interactions with the Center for Environmental Resource Management and other multidisciplinary research centers are encouraged. A new building dedicated to interdisciplinary research was completed in 2020.

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Subsurface Geology, beginning August 2027. We are seeking highly collaborative applicants with expertise in the exploration, production, or storage of subsurface resources such as geothermal fluids, groundwater/brine, minerals, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. Specific areas of expertise may include but not limit to subsurface characterization of rock properties (such as porosity, permeability, fracture distribution, reactivity and geometry), geologic modeling/reservoir simulation, fluid-rock interactions, fluid injection and extraction in porous and permeable rock formations. Applicants should enhance the core strengths of our department in areas such as geophysics, geochemistry, human-environment interactions, economic geology, land use/land cover change, hydrology, field geology, tectonics, and planetary science. Candidates are encouraged to develop contacts and partnerships with industry and organizations involved in the energy transition and mineral resource development. The successful candidate will be expected to attract research funding from external sources. Teaching may include an introductory course in Earth Science or Environmental Science and upper division and/or graduate classes in topics of their choice agreed upon with the Department Chair. In addition to advising M.S. and Ph.D. students from the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Resource Sciences, the selected candidate will have the opportunity to participate in the interdisciplinary Environmental Science undergraduate and doctoral programs and the new undergraduate program in Mining Engineering (starting fall 2027).

Requirements:

The Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences is hiring a faculty member in the broadly-defined area of subsurface geology who is capable of teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, conducting and establishing an extramurally funded and active research portfolio, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and mentoring students at all levels. A Ph.D. in Geological Sciences or a closely related field at the time of appointment is required.

Preferred Qualifiactions:

Candidates will have postdoctoral research experience, track record of peer-reviewed publications, previously secured research funding, collaborations and/or experience working with industry, and teaching experience is desirable.