Assistant/Associate Teaching Professor, Marine Biology

About the Opportunity

The Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts invites applications from qualified candidates for a full-time, non-tenure track teaching faculty position with an anticipated start date of September 2026. The faculty member will teach courses that serve both our BS and MS degrees in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Marine Biology as well as students from other programs (e.g., Biology) interested in Marine and Environmental Sciences. Marine Biology and either New England Marine Biomes or Experimental Design will be primary course assignments. Potential additional courses include Science Communication or Food Security and Sustainability and/or experiential or capstone courses as determined by the Chair of the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

We seek broadly trained candidates with expertise in marine biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, experimental design, and data analysis, although successful candidates could also have a background in conservation, sustainability sciences, or related fields. Candidates must demonstrate experience teaching in their area of expertise. Candidates who can leverage their prior experience with government, industry, or non-profit organizations to enhance experiential learning opportunities for students are strongly encouraged to apply. Given the range of our curriculum, we seek candidates that can offer field trips as part of the curriculum. Applicants who have experience teaching or conducting research with the R programming language are encouraged to highlight that in their application, but this is not a necessary qualification.

Responsibilities

The Assistant/Associate Teaching Professor will be the instructor of record for 5 courses that are either part of the current curriculum or are new courses developed by the candidate to serve the needs of our rapidly evolving and growing academic programs. The Department Chair, Associate Chair, Graduate Program Director and/or Faculty Heads of these programs will work with the candidate to identify new course needs. Service contributions as part of the workload distribution for this position may be assigned after discussion with the Chair of the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences and may include but are not limited to academic advising, program development, curriculum development, and committee appointments.

Qualifications

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in marine biology, environmental sciences, ecology, evolutionary biology or another closely related discipline by the appointment start date, minimum 1 year experience teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in natural sciences, as well as excellent communication, collaboration, and leadership skills. Because Northeastern is a global institution with locations in an array of jurisdictions, qualified candidates must be prepared to work with global student populations.

Documents to submit

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae
• Teaching philosophy statement
• Leadership statement
• List of three references

Please indicate how your expertise, knowledge, and skills have prepared you to contribute to this work with written statements addressing the following prompts:

Teaching Statement: Please summarize your past instructional and mentorship experiences, your pedagogical philosophy, your plans/goals for teaching in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences of the College of Science (including existing and proposed courses), and your strategies for teaching and mentoring global student populations.

Leadership Statement: Please describe your past experiences and activities and/or your future plans detailing your leadership style, how you intend to cultivate a culture that promotes a sense of belonging, including fostering a free and open exchange of ideas and managing different perspectives to help others strengthen their practice.

Application review will begin on March 31, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. Questions may be directed to the chair of the search committee, Associate Professor Katie Lotterhos, k.lotterhos@northeastern.edu.