Assistant/Associate Professor of Maternal and Child Nutrition

Assistant Or Associate Professor The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. IFAS and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition invites applications from qualified individuals for a tenure-track faculty position at the Assistant or Associate Professor level. The successful candidate will develop a collaborative, externally funded, and internationally engaged research program focused on maternal and child nutrition, with particular emphasis on improving health and developmental outcomes for women, infants, and young children in global and underserved settings. This is a 9-month, tenure-accruing position that will be 70% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 30% teaching (College of Agricultural and Life Sciences) available in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida, based in Gainesville, FL, expected to start in Spring 2027. The position is supported by a competitive salary with benefits including health, life, dental and vision insurance; flexible spending accounts; retirement options; paid holidays and wellness benefits. Tenure will accrue in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. The faculty member will seek contract and grant funding actively to support their program. We seek candidates who conduct research and integrative studies in global nutrition and health, public health nutrition, food and nutrition security, and maternal and child health. Relevant areas may include the role of nutrient-dense foods and dietary patterns—including animal-source foods, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, fortified foods, and complementary foods—in supporting maternal health, infant growth, early childhood development, and long-term health outcomes. Successful candidates will use interdisciplinary, systems-based, and population-level approaches and may integrate primary data collection, epidemiology, intervention research, implementation science, dietary assessment, nutritional biomarkers, data science, and predictive modeling. The position will include responsibilities in research and teaching, with opportunities to mentor undergraduate and graduate students and contribute to courses in nutrition, public health, global health, and food systems. The successful candidate will engage in scholarly activities related to instruction. Examples of these scholarly activities include teaching undergraduate and/or graduate courses, advising and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, participating in curriculum revision and enhancement, seeking funding for the teaching program, supervising undergraduate and graduate research and creative work, publishing teaching-related scholarship, producing learning tools, and engaging in professional development activities related to teaching and advising. Because of the IFAS land-grant mission, all faculty are expected to be supportive of and engaged in all three mission areas—Research, Teaching and Extension—regardless of the assignment split specified in the position description. This position is one of two new faculty positions which will seed a nexus in global health nutrition and food security between Global Food Systems Institute (GFSI) within IFAS and the One Health Center of Excellence (OHCE) within the College of Public Health and Health Professions' (PHHP) Department of Environmental and Global Health (EGH). These synergistic positions, a food safety epidemiologist in EGH and a public health nutritionist in Food Science and Human Nutrition, will complement the existing expertise in interdisciplinary research on global food security and nutrition across the lifespan. The position will be housed in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, strengthening existing expertise in maternal and child nutrition, community and public health nutrition, nutritional sciences, food systems, food safety, food processing, and global nutrition. The successful candidate will have opportunities to collaborate with faculty across the department and throughout UF/IFAS, PHHP, the Emerging Pathogens Institute, and other university programs engaged in global health, One Health, agriculture, nutrition, and international development. The University of Florida is a Land-Grant, Sea-Grant, and Space-Grant institution, encompassing virtually all academic and professional disciplines, with an enrollment of more than 56,000 students. UF is a member of The Association of American Universities. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences includes the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Florida Sea Grant program, and encompasses 16 on-campus academic departments and schools, 12 Research and Educational Centers (REC) located throughout the state, 6 Research sites/demonstration units administered by RECs or academic departments, and Florida Cooperative Extension Service offices in all 67 counties (counties operate and maintain). The School of Natural Resources and Environment is an interdisciplinary unit housed in IFAS and managed by several colleges on campus. UF/IFAS employs nearly 4,500 people, which includes approximately 990 salaried faculty and 1,400 permanent support personnel located in Gainesville and throughout the state. IFAS, one of the nation's largest agricultural and natural resources research and education organizations, is administered by a Vice President and four deans: the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Dean for Extension and Director of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, the Dean for Research and Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine. UF/IFAS also engages in cooperative work with Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.