Assistant Professor of Just and Sustainable Energy Transitions Job #16533

Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS) and School of Sustainability (SOS) seek applications for an assistant professor (tenure-track) who brings innovative analytical, theoretical, data, visualization, or modeling approaches to research on sustainable energy transitions, with a particular emphasis on questions of justice, equity, diversity, and/or inclusion (JEDI). We expect candidates to have exceptional potential for or an evident track record in scholarship, education, and engagement and to work with a vibrant and diverse faculty to grow a program of work in this area with national and global recognition and impact.

We welcome applications from candidates studying the dynamics of transitioning from fossil fuels to sustainable energy systems, including considerations of markets, labor, policy, race and gender, environment, democracy, poverty, or inequality. We are especially interested in candidates who explore questions of difference (e.g., in perspectives, values, experiences, practices, institutions, arrangements, outcomes, impacts, or opportunities), within or across communities, societies, and economies, and their implications for just and sustainable energy transitions.

The successful candidate will be expected to bring an interdisciplinary and inclusive perspective to their work. They will be expected to develop, grow and lead an independently funded and collaborative research program; educate and mentor students; participate in professional and university service; engage with diverse stakeholders and/or communities; and grow into leadership in their field. We especially seek candidates who have a compelling vision of JEDI that aligns with the vision and mission of SFIS, the idea of sustainability reflected in SOS, the design aspirations of the New American University, and the ASU Charter.

This position will be shared between SFIS and SOS, with the tenure home in the former. The successful candidate will contribute in creative and innovative ways to advancing the missions of both schools, as well as the newly created ASU College of Global Futures and Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory of which they are a part. The candidate’s research will contribute to ASU’s cross-cutting initiatives to accelerate just and sustainable energy transitions, including the Center for Energy & Society and Lightworks. The candidate will be expected to teach 3 courses per year, including courses for the PhD in Sustainable Energy as well as electives on energy transitions that contribute to multiple SFIS and SOS graduate and undergraduate programs.

Required: PhD or doctoral equivalent in an appropriate field. Experience in applying for, receiving, and managing externally sponsored research at a scale appropriate to rank. Experience in teaching and mentoring students appropriate to rank. Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to JEDI issues related to their professional work.

Desired: Experience engaging with stakeholders inside and outside the university and working with under-represented communities. Experience collaborating with colleagues from different disciplines to grow dynamic research and academic programs. Ability to communicate in and across different epistemic cultures.

The ASU College of Global Futures is an integral unit within the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, an innovative enterprise designed to radically enhance the university’s impact in creating a thriving future for humanity and planet Earth. The College contains three schools: the School of Sustainability, the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, and the School of Complex Adaptive Systems.

The ASU College of Global Futures, its schools, and their communities of faculty, students, and staff are strongly committed to advancing JEDI objectives and share a vision of socially and environmentally responsive and responsible innovation. Since its creation in 2015, SFIS has maintained that “the future is for everyone.” Part of implementing this ethic is creating a diverse faculty that represents both the diversity of interests and issues that humanity faces in its increasingly complex future and the diversity of students and communities we serve. In recent years, SFIS has hired a significant number of new faculty in the area of technology and equity. This position – one of four searches in the current academic year dedicated to JEDI issues in science, technology, and innovation – is part of a new initiative extending SFIS’s JEDI commitment.

SFIS provides a unique ecosystem for scholarship, education and engagement at the intersection of science, technology, and innovation with social, economic, and racial justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Current faculty research areas include, but are far from limited to, environmental and energy justice, reproductive justice and biopolitics, technology at borders, peace engineering, data ethics, Afrofuturism, public interest technology, activism and social movements, and decolonizing space governance. Many SFIS faculty collaborate in diverse ways with the Fulton Schools of Engineering, including in the field of energy. Collaborative opportunities also exist with the Washington, DC-based Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, consistently ranked one of the top science and technology policy think tanks in the world.

As the first school of sustainability in the country, SOS has developed a pioneering approach to sustainability education, research, and engagement. The school is focused on real-world solutions to complex social-ecological-technical challenges, with a driving vision “to empower transformation for a thriving, sustainable world.” JEDI is integral to this vision in all aspects of the three pillars of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Specific research areas among SOS faculty include urban sustainability, sustainable business and enterprise, climate change, biodiversity, resource management, international development, indigenous knowledge, and food, energy, and water systems. SOS has a core group of faculty and students focused on energy, with an innovative PhD program in Sustainable Energy that integrates technical, policy, and social aspects of energy transitions.

As defined in its design aspirations, ASU has a deep commitment to use-inspired, public-serving work in both the local and global contexts. This commitment is further articulated in ASU’s Charter, declaring the university’s enduring commitment to the communities in which it is embedded. This year, ASU made a distinctive “commitment to Black students, faculty and staff”, with which this hiring initiative is aligned.

Only electronic submissions will be reviewed. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications should be submitted at https://apply.interfolio.com/81421 and must contain:

• a detailed cover letter that includes a description of the applicant's research and teaching interests and administrative experience (limited to 4 pages);
• a separate statement of how the applicant’s experience, activities, and vision supports SFIS’s and ASU’s commitment to JEDI (as expressed in scholarship, education, or engagement relevant to the position) (limited to 2 pages)—see https://sfis.asu.edu/sites/default/files/jedi_statement_evaluation_penult_final_pdf.pdf;
• a current Curriculum Vitae; and
• complete contact information for three professional references (include name, title, affiliation, e-mail address, phone number).  

Although this is a joint SFIS/SOS position, it is also part of an SFIS cluster hire in JEDI; therefore, the applicant should address the SFIS JEDI statement. 

Review of applications will begin January 4, 2021 and, if not filled, a review will occur every Friday thereafter until the search is closed. Official transcripts and a background check are required for employment.

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A background check is required for employment. Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.

(See https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html and https://www.asu.edu/titleIX/.)

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