Environmental Science Program Director

Position Description:

The Director of Matthiessen Scholars reports to the Director of Academic Research Programs and also coordinates with the Head of the Science Department in all elements of planning and execution for Matthiessen, including contributing to an equitable process of student selection and a robust orientation in the weeks leading up to the Program’s start. In June, the Director, with assistance from other teachers and GMF foresters, both sets and fulfills Matthiessen’s academic priorities while in residence at Yale’s field camp. These should include instruction in forest ecology, interpretation of land use history, study design, and field research sampling techniques. Instruction could emphasize the application of research at varying scales, the fundamentals of disturbance and recovery dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, community assembly, and species population dynamics. In tandem with their academic duties, the Director lives at the field camp for the duration of the Program and, alongside other teachers and a cook, oversees the day-to-day residential experience, ensuring that students are safe and secure until the Program ends.

During the academic year, the Director co-teaches an Honors course in environmental science. In the fall, the emphasis of that course will be on adding breadth and depth to the material learned during the summer, refining students’ research questions, and supporting them in data collection. The remainder of the academic year will be spent supporting students in data analysis and the writing of a substantial report on their findings.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The bulk of the Director’s job will be mentoring students in their research projects. This involves one-on-one instruction for students as their projects evolve, and it also includes giving talks, setting up labs, and generating lessons for the full group of Matthiessen students as needed. During the academic year, the Director will be expected to commute to campus in order to teach in the Honors course that builds off of the summer research. (In case qualified applicants live more than thirty miles from the School, there is a possibility that arrangements can be made for a reduced schedule of visits to campus. Teaching or mentoring students on Zoom, in certain limited contexts, may also be an option.)

For the summer portion of the program, the Director will be expected to live at the field camp and work closely with other teachers and GMF staff to ensure that facilities are used appropriately, programmatic goals are met, and the pastoral responsibilities of caring for adolescents in a residential setting are fulfilled. The Director may also contribute to a naturalist curriculum—wilderness exploration, creative responses to nature, fostering wonder at the world around us—and ensure that this curriculum engages in productive conversation with students’ scientific studies. Finally, the Director is responsible for balancing safety with Program goals, such that students are pushed and challenged both academically and physically in the Program’s natural setting, but always within the bounds of best practices in a wilderness environment.

Qualifications:

Candidates should have prior teaching experience in ecology or conservation biology or a similar subject and should be experienced in mentoring young adults in scientific research and the subsequent interpretation and reporting of their findings. All applicants should have a degree in ecology or a related field. The strongest candidates will have an advanced degree in a relevant subject and be actively engaged in their own research with some history of successfully funding that research through grants and/or publishing results in peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, qualified candidates will have some administrative background, ideally demonstrated through prior experience running student experiences and/or academic programs—or through other examples of organizing and managing programs of similar operational complexity.

During the summer program at Yale, there may be a need to transport students locally for field work. Therefore, it would be preferable for the Director to obtain a public service endorsement on their driver’s license, so that they may drive students for School-sponsored activities. It would also be ideal for candidates to have or obtain their Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification.