Assistant Professor of Yeast Biology

FACULTY POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT
Assistant Professor of Yeast Biology
Departments of Viticulture and Enology and Food Science and Technology
University of California, Davis

The Department of Viticulture and Enology in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences is recruiting an Assistant Professor specializing in Yeast Biology. This position will have a minority appointment (10%) in the Department of Food Science and Technology, which houses the brewing science program. The area of disciplinary specialization is open, however. In addition to teaching, this academic year (9-month) tenure track assistant professor position includes an appointment in the Agricultural Experiment Station. The appointee is expected to conduct mission-oriented research and outreach of relevance to California stakeholders. Participation in outreach programs and performance of University service are expected.

The appointee will be expected to develop a research program on basic and/or applied aspects of yeast biology with application to the wine industry, brewing industry or other related industries. Areas of research interest may include, but are not limited to, yeast cell or molecular biology, physiology, systems biology, population biology, community dynamics, biochemistry.

The appointee will be responsible for teaching undergraduate coursework in microbiology for example, VEN128 and VEN128L Wine Microbiology and Wine Microbiology Laboratory or a related field in wine and food production. Additional opportunities for teaching are expected in graduate groups such as Microbiology, Integrated Genetics and Genomics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, or Cell and Developmental Biology. Undergraduate student advising, participation in and development of outreach programs, curricular development, and performance of departmental and university service are expected.

The research, teaching and outreach mission of the Department of Viticulture and Enology (wineserver.ucdavis.edu) focuses on the creation, development and distribution of basic and applied knowledge related to the production of grapes and wine, with a scope extending from the fundamental molecular level to a process scale in both the vineyard and the winery. The department is internationally recognized as a premier center of excellence in these fields. Faculty and specialist programs within the department concentrate on table, raisin, and wine grapes, as well as the science and practices of winemaking. Fields of study within the department include microbiology, analytical and natural products chemistry, chemical engineering, sensory science, plant physiology, plant systems biology, plant-water relations, and climate.

The appointee will have access to wide-ranging winery infrastructure resources and many collaborative opportunities within the department, other departments within the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, and with colleagues in the College of Biological Sciences and the College of Engineering among others. In 2011, the department opened the most technically-advanced and sustainable winery in the world, co-located with their state-of-the-art research and teaching laboratories in the Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science, completed in 2008. The recently-completed Jess S. Jackson Sustainable Winery Building, provides research space for piloting sustainable processing concepts related to component recovery, water and energy efficiency or chemical and carbon footprints for the wine and other food and beverage industries.

Responsibilities: The appointee is expected to establish a competitively-funded research program relevant to yeast biology with applications relevant to the wine, brewing and food industries. The appointee will be responsible for teaching graduate and undergraduate coursework related to microbiological concepts in winemaking. Mentoring of graduate students, undergraduate student advising, participation in and development of outreach programs, curricular development, and performance of departmental and university service is expected. The appointee is expected to conduct mission-oriented research and outreach of relevance to the California Agricultural Experiment Station.