Assistant or Associate Professor of Physical Geography

excellence for all members of the university community.

As a Hispanic-serving Institution (HSI), inclusiveness and diversity are integral to CSUN's commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and engagement. As of Fall 2025, CSUN enrolls 36,960 students, where 57.5% are Latinx, 18.4% are White, 8.5% are Asian-American, 5.5% are Black/African American, 0.1% are Native American, and 0.1% are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

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About the College:

For more information about the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, see: https://www.csun.edu/social-behavioral-sciences/college

About the Department:

For more information about the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, see: https://www.csun.edu/social-behavioral-sciences/geography-environmental-studies

Position

The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is seeking a tenure-track faculty member broadly trained in Physical Geography at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor.

The successful candidate will teach a wide range of undergraduate and graduate level physical geography courses and have research interests in field-based approaches to understanding earth systems.

In addition to teaching, the position requires weekly office hours, attending faculty meetings, participation in assessment of student learning, and service to the department, college, and university. The successful candidate may be required to teach on weekdays, evenings, weekends, and/or online and will be held to the standards and requirements of the college and department in which he/she/they is/are housed for recommending tenure and promotion. Given CSUN's commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and engagement in a diverse environment, the successful candidate will help the Department achieve equitable academic outcomes for all students through teaching, student mentorship, scholarship, and service.

The ideal candidate is a field-oriented, broadly trained physical geographer who is deeply committed to teaching excellence, demonstrates versatility in the classroom and field, and engages in applied, student-centered research. Areas of expertise particularly desired include climatology, meteorology, geomorphology, or integrative physical geography, and who situate their work within contemporary environmental challenges.

Candidates should have demonstrated excellence or potential for excellence in teaching, scholarly research, and professional and community service.

Preference will be given to candidates who can develop field-based research projects analyzing environmental or physical geography topics in Southern California and engage in fieldwork with students with a demonstrated commitment to student success. Demonstrated use of GIS, spatial analysis, UAVs, drones or other advanced data instrumentation are especially encouraged to apply.

Teaching responsibilities will include our upper-division courses and any of our graduate courses in the candidate's area of expertise. Teaching lower- and upper-division GIS courses may be required. In addition, candidates may be expected to teach lower- and upper-division physical/environmental geography courses such as coursework in climate science, geomorphology and field and laboratory techniques courses.

Successful applicants will also be encouraged to develop new upper-level coursework in their area of expertise. Normal teaching load is 12 units per semester, with opportunities for reduction in teaching load for funded research. There will be a reduced teaching load during the first two years of appointment.

We seek a faculty member who will involve students in field work, data analysis, and research projects, who will mentor students in their senior thesis and master's degree research, and generally prepare students for careers in physical-environmental sciences and geotechnical fields.

The successful candidate will also be expected to contribute to our graduate programs in Geospatial Science and Physical/Environmental Geography, advise students, contribute to department, college, and university committees, participate in professional conferences, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and seek external grants.

Required Qualifications:

• A Ph.D. in Geography, or closely related field from an accredited institution, completed by the time of appointment.
• Demonstrated potential for effective, student-centered teaching in online and on-campus environments.
• Evidence of field-based expertise in physical geography
• An area of expertise in one of the following subdisciplines: climatology, meteorology, geomorphology, or integrative physical geography.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Evidence of effective engagement OR potential to engage with a diverse student body.
• Experience using culturally responsive pedagogy that leads to equitable outcomes for all students.
• Experience creating a student-centered learning environment.
• Research/Lab experience that includes working with students from diverse backgrounds.
• Experience adopting inclusive approaches to mentoring.
• Demonstrated ability or potential to mentor undergraduate researchers.
• Demonstrated ability or potential to teach across multiple subfields of physical geography.
• Demonstrated ability or potential to incorporate field, laboratory, or other experiential learning into instruction.
• Evidence of scholarly productivity or a clearly articulated research agenda.
• Demonstrated ability or potential to conduct interdisciplinary research addressing environmental challenges.
• Demonstrated ability or potential to conduct field-based environmental research, including field data collection and the use of GIS, spatial analysis, UAVs/drones, and/or environmental instrumentation.
• Demonstrated ability or potential to develop a Southern California or regionally proximate research agenda with applied or societal relevance.

Application Deadline:

Preferred application deadline is October 28th, 2026, and applications received after this date may be considered on an as-needed basis. However, the position will remain open until filled.

How to Apply:

Candidates should apply by completing the CSUN online application. To apply and for more detailed information on the application and hiring process, please visit this link: www.csun.edu/careers

Applicants must submit a one-to-two-page cover letter addressing ability to meet required and preferred job qualifications, a curriculum vitae in reverse chronological order, a one-page statement of teaching philosophy, a one-page statement outlining your research agenda, and a one-page statement regarding your commitment to teaching and mentoring students from a wide range of cultural and educational backgrounds to the website in the section above.

At the time of appointment, the successful candidate, if not a U.S. citizen, must have authorization from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to work in the United States. Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States.

Please note: California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is currently not sponsoring applicants for H-1B employment that are subject to the $100,000 fee established by the "Presidential Proclamation: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers" issued on September 19, 2025. Applicants are responsible for determining the applicability of the fee.

Education Code 89521 Requirements: Applicants will be required to disclose whether they have received a final administrative decision or final judicial decision determining that they have committed sexual harassment within the last 7 years only after a determination is made that they meet the minimum qualifications for the position, and before an offer of employment is extended. Applicants who reach the final stages of the application process must also sign a release form that authorizes the release of information by the applicant's current and/or former employers to the CSU concerning any substantiated allegations of misconduct.

General Information:

In compliance with the Annual Security Report & Fire Safety Report of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, California State University, Northridge has made crime-reporting statistics available on-line here. Print copies are available by request from the Department of Police Services, the Office for Faculty Affairs, and the Office of Equity and Diversity.

The person holding this position may be considered a 'mandated reporter' under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.

A background check (including a criminal records check) must be completed satisfactorily before any candidate can be offered a position with the CSU. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the application status of applicants or continued employment of current CSU employees who apply for the position.

In accordance with the California State University (CSU) Out-of-State Employment Policy, the CSU is a state entity whose business operations reside within the State of California and prohibits hiring employees to perform CSU-related work outside of California.

CSUN is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, and disability. Our nondiscrimination policy is set forth in the Interim CSU Nondiscrimination Policy. Reasonable accommodations will be provided for applicants with disabilities who self-disclose by contacting Gladdys Salazar, gladdys.salazar@csun.edu at 818-677-3532.