Tenure-Track Faculty Position Announcement
Department: Biology
Faculty Hire Number: #27-22
Rank: Assistant Professor
Effective Date of Appointment: August 19, 2027 (Subject to Budgetary Approval)
Anticipated Hiring Range: $83,349 to $92,610 (Dependent upon qualifications)
CSUN’s Commitment to You
California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is committed to achieving excellence through teaching, scholarship, learning, and inclusion. Our values include a respect for all people, building partnerships with the community and the encouragement of innovation, experimentation, and creativity. CSUN strives to cultivate a community in which a diverse population can learn and work in an atmosphere of civility and respect. CSUN is especially interested in candidates who make contributions to equity and inclusion in the pursuit of excellence for all members of the university community.
As a Hispanic-serving Institution (HSI), inclusiveness and diversity are integral to CSUN’s commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and engagement. As of fall 2025, CSUN enrolled 36,960 students, where 57.5% are Latinx, 18.4% are White, 8.5% are Asian-American, 5.5% are Black/African American, 0.1% are Native American, and 0.1% are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
For more information about the CSUN, visit: http://www.csun.edu.
About the College
For more information about the College of Science and Mathematics, see: https://www.csun.edu/science-mathematics.
About the Department
For more information about the Department of Biology, see: https://www.csun.edu/science-mathematics/biology.
Position
The Department of Biology at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is seeking a tenure-track faculty member to serve as a Bird or Mammal Biologist at the rank of Assistant Professor. We seek candidates whose teaching and research interests focus on extant birds or mammals, and who have a commitment to serving as our next Curator of the Bird or Mammal collections. The successful candidate may teach courses in introductory biology for majors (BIOL 106) and in the candidate’s specialty, including courses in Avian Ecology (BIOL 414) or Mammalogy (BIOL 415) with lab and field components, or other senior/graduate-level courses. The candidate’s teaching portfolio will complement existing courses in the department, including upper division organismal and field courses, ecology, evolutionary biology, molecular ecology, conservation biology, biometry, and computational modeling. The successful candidate will demonstrate the potential to develop an independent externally funded research program that engages undergraduate and graduate students in authentic research experiences. The successful candidate will also be familiar with the natural history and biology of extant birds or mammals of Southern California and develop a teaching and research focus that leverages and grows the department’s vertebrate collections. The successful candidate will seek opportunities for collaboration with other Biology faculty and peers from other institutions and regional, state, and federal agencies.
In addition to teaching, the position requires weekly office hours, attending faculty meetings, participation in assessment of student learning, and service to the department, college, and university. The successful candidate may be required to teach on weekdays, evenings, weekends, and/or online and will be held to the standards and requirements of the College of Science and Mathematics and Department of Biology for recommending tenure and promotion. Given CSUN’s commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and engagement in a diverse environment, the successful candidate will help the Department of Biology achieve equitable academic outcomes for all students through teaching, student mentorship, scholarship, and service.
Required Qualifications
- Ph.D. in Biology or a closely related field from an accredited institution
- At least one year of postdoctoral research experience or one year as an assistant professor or museum curator at an accredited institution by the time of hire
- Experience in college or university-level, in-person teaching
- Ability to teach upper division courses in avian ecology or mammalogy focused on extant taxa and including lab and field components
- Experience mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in research
- Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals, including first-authored papers
- Record of acquiring extramural research funds to support the candidate’s research
- Research experience focused on the biology of extant birds or mammals, excluding humans and traditional model organisms (e.g., domestic poultry, lab rodents)
- Research experience that is at least partly collections based
- Museum collections experience with bird or mammal specimens (e.g., curator, collections manager, curatorial assistant, preparator)
Preferred Qualifications
- Evidence of effective engagement or potential to engage with a diverse student body
- Experience using culturally responsive pedagogy that leads to equitable outcomes for all students
- Experience creating a student-centered learning environment, including evidence of teaching effectiveness and/or training in pedagogical strategies
- Research experience that includes working with students from diverse backgrounds
- Experience adopting inclusive approaches to student mentoring
- Ability to teach an introductory course for biology majors focused on core principles in ecology and evolutionary biology
- A research program and complementary teaching interests focused at the whole-organism, population, or taxon level, such as systematics, biogeography, evolution, ecology, morphology, biomechanics, physiology, or behavior
- Ability to serve as curator and commitment to contribute to the maintenance and growth of the bird or mammal collections
- Ability to establish collaborations with departmental or institutional colleagues, and/or evidence of prior collaborations with peers from other institutions or state and/or federal management agencies
Application Deadline
Preferred application deadline is November 16, 2026, and applications received after this date may be considered on an as-needed basis. However, the position will remain open until filled.
How to Apply
Candidates should apply by completing the CSUN online application. To apply and for more detailed information on the application and hiring process, please visit: www.csun.edu/careers.
Applicants must submit to the website in the section above (1) a cover letter, (2) curriculum vitae, (3) statement of research interests (two pages), (4) statement of teaching philosophy and experience (two pages), (5) names of three references. Although we do not request a separate diversity statement, candidates should highlight their experience and philosophy for working in a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment in their research and teaching statements.
At the time of appointment, the successful candidate, if not a U.S. citizen, must have authorization from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to work in the United States. Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States.
Please note: California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is currently not sponsoring applicants for H-1B employment that are subject to the $100,000 fee established by the “Presidential Proclamation: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” issued on September 19, 2025. Applicants are responsible for determining the applicability of the fee.
Education Code 89521 Requirements
Applicants will be required to disclose whether they have received a final administrative decision or final judicial decision determining that they have committed sexual harassment within the last 7 years only after a determination is made that they meet the minimum qualifications for the position, and before an offer of employment is extended. Applicants who reach the final stages of the application process must also sign a release form that authorizes the release of information by the applicant’s current and/or former employers to the CSU concerning any substantiated allegations of misconduct.
General Information
In compliance with the Annual Security Report & Fire Safety Report of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, California State University, Northridge has made crime-reporting statistics available on-line here. Print copies are available by request from the Department of Police Services, the Office for Faculty Affairs, and the Office of Equity and Diversity.
The person holding this position may be considered a 'mandated reporter' under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.
A background check (including a criminal records check) must be completed satisfactorily before any candidate can be offered a position with the CSU. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the application status of applicants or continued employment of current CSU employees who apply for the position.
In accordance with the California State University (CSU) Out-of-State Employment Policy, the CSU is a state entity whose business operations reside within the State of California and prohibits hiring employees to perform CSU-related work outside of California.
CSUN is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, and disability. Our nondiscrimination policy is set forth in the Interim CSU Nondiscrimination Policy. Reasonable accommodations will be provided for applicants with disabilities who self-disclose by contacting Robert Espinoza at (818) 677-4980.
