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We’re searching for a tenure-track biologist, targeting an organismal biologist or ecologist who can connect to our field station, but open to candidates in other areas. Application review will start on Oct. 2, 2026. Here’s the position description, followed by additional information about the position, the department, the College, and the community.

The Position

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ invites applications for a tenure-track appointment in biology beginning fall 2027. 

Assistant professor (Ph.D.) preferred; associate professor possible. 

Research and teaching interests might include but are not limited to organismal biology and ecology, with the potential to engage with the College’s field station (the Conard Environmental Research Area) and the environmental studies program, which will introduce a new major in 2027.

We are seeking a colleague who will reside in and contribute to all levels of the curriculum in the Department of Biology, including advising and supervising student research. The teaching will include BIO 150: Introduction to Biological Inquiry, BIO 252: Organisms, Evolution, and Ecology, and upper-level courses in their areas of specialty. 

For insight into our teaching philosophy, see our innovative introductory course, BIO150: Introduction to Biological Inquiry, which focuses on biology skill development and research, not a survey of introductory content.

Our curricular needs suggested our targeted areas of specialty, but we are open to other kinds of biologists who enhance our curriculum and fit our other search criteria. By organismal biologist, we mean someone who studies the structure and function of organisms, most likely those in a particular clade. Among ecologists, good candidates would be those who complement our strengths in evolutionary and behavioral ecology, perhaps by having a system-level focus.

About Ä¢¹½´«Ã½

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ is a highly selective liberal arts college with a well-deserved reputation for undergraduate teaching. A  ranks Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ seventh per capita among schools from which science and engineering Ph.D.’s received their bachelor’s degrees.

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ has a strong commitment to social justice, revealed, in part, by our need-blind admissions process. We do not consider ability to pay in making admissions decisions for domestic students, and we meet the full demonstrated financial need of all students we accept (including international students). The science departments are also active in institution-wide diversity efforts, such as the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ Science Project (GSP), which has been honored with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring for more than twenty years of successful efforts to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who earn degrees in the sciences.

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ students are an amazing and rewarding group to teach. Class sizes are small (restricted to 24 per class at the 100- and 200-level and to 12 per lab section at the 300-level). The high priority placed on advising means students and faculty get to know each other well. 

The teaching load is five course equivalents per year, with lab sections counting as half of a course. As a result, a typical yearly teaching load for a faculty member in the sciences is three to four separate courses plus labs. Note that new tenure-track faculty hires teach a four-course equivalent load in their first year.

Teaching at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ can take place in many settings. Beyond traditional lecture halls and labs, there are opportunities for course-embedded travel and wonderful teaching spaces at the Conard Environment Research Area ().

Given our research-forward curriculum and commitment to learning-through-doing, faculty at Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ are expected to be productive scholars. A significant mode of research across campus is faculty-mentored student research in the form of what are called Mentored Advanced Projects (MAPs). MAPs can be conducted during the semester or summer. Students earn academic credit for the MAP and are awarded funds to support the project. During the summer, the program also provides students with funds to support living expenses during ten weeks of full-time research. Faculty also receive a stipend for supervising summer MAPs. MAPs are popular and a part of our rich culture of student-faculty research. Student demand for these research experiences always exceeds supply; however, faculty are not required to conduct MAPs. 

Beyond MAPs, the College provides support for faculty scholarship as:

• Startup Funds: New tenure-track hires negotiate a startup package with the dean after being offered a position.
• Research Labs: All tenure-track faculty have dedicated research space in addition to office space.
• Faculty Development Funds: All faculty receive $3,000 each year to support their research. Faculty can also apply for up to $5,000 of competitive grants from the dean’s office. 
• Teaching Leaves: Faculty contracts are for nine months, freeing up summer for research that can include grant-supported supplementary salary. Pre-tenure faculty are eligible for a one-semester research leave in their fourth year, and can apply for a Harris Fellowship, which supports a full-year leave. Faculty are eligible for a full-year sabbatical with full pay after tenure, and after every 12 semesters of teaching thereafter.
• Grants Office Support: The College has an excellent Grants Office to help faculty apply for government grants and other external funding programs.

About the City of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½

The city of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ is a community of approximately 9,000 people, about an hour’s drive from several larger population centers (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City). 

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ actively seeks to engage with the local community. College-hosted events (athletics, fine arts, etc.) are free and open to the public. While many faculty members find the community of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ a great place to live, some faculty and staff do commute from larger cities.

• Explore the Visitor Guide, including links to the community calendar and the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½-Newburg School District.
• Travel Information and Campus Map