Assistant Professor - Kansas State University

The Department of Geology at Kansas State University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Hydrogeology, beginning August 2025.

We seek an enthusiastic and versatile geoscientist able to contribute to our growing bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. The position requires excellence in teaching and mentoring, professional and scholarly achievements, and a commitment to service to the Department and the University. The successful candidate is expected to develop and maintain a vigorous, externally funded research program, supervise graduate and undergraduate theses, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and teach at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

 The successful applicant will ideally carry out research in the broad area of hydrogeology. Anticipated areas of specialization could include groundwater flow and/or reactive-transport modeling, contaminant hydrology, groundwater quality/remediation, ecohydrology, surface water-groundwater interactions, critical-zone processes, hydrogeophysics, and/or aquifer storage and recovery. Research that integrates field methods with numerical and/or laboratory approaches is highly desired. The new faculty member will be expected to teach our undergraduate course in hydrogeology and develop upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in their area of specialty. They will also be expected to supervise research students in this area of geoscience.

Kansas State University is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. K-State is a Land Grant University with an enrollment of about 20,000 students. It has been ranked among the top state and private institutions of higher education in Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholars since 1986. As part of its new strategic plan, Kansas State University aims to lead the nation as a next-generation land-grant university — setting the standard for inspiring learning, creativity, discovery, and engagement that positively impacts society and transforms lives in Kansas and around the world.

The programs in the College of Arts and Sciences are central to K-State’s historic and present missions. The College contains more than 22 departments and offers several special programs and secondary majors. With more than 4,500 students, it attracts the largest enrollment of any K-State college.

The Department of Geology (http://www.ksu.edu/geology) currently includes 11 faculty members, and vibrant undergraduate and master’s programs in geology. We are also a major contributor to the K-State’s interdisciplinary Environmental Science Program. Existing research strengths include geophysics, geodynamics, aqueous geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, geomicrobiology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, economic geology, geochronology, surficial processes, structural geology, Earth history, igneous petrology, and tectonics.

The Department of Geology currently occupies an attractive older building but is in the process of extensively renovating laboratory and classroom space adjacent to other STEM departments in a central area of campus, with an expected date of completion of summer 2025. We have a supportive alumni group who help to provide scholarships, research and travel funds for our students. Numerous analytical and computational resources exist within the department, including instruments and equipment for porous median characterization, aqueous and gas-phase geochemistry, anaerobic culturing, luminescence dating, field geophysics, and petrological analysis. A wide range of facilities are also available across campus including those listed here: https://www.k-state.edu/directories/research-facilities.html.

K-State is home to numerous successful STEM programs, providing opportunities for strong collaborations across a several disciplines, including soil science, ecology, molecular biology, biochemistry, geospatial sciences, and civil, environmental, and biological and agricultural engineering. Moreover, the successful candidate will have opportunities to connect with many other water researchers at K-State through our newly established Kansas Water Institute.