Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences (Elasmobranch Biologist)

Position: Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences (Elasmobranch Biologist)
Effective Date: August 17, 2026 (Fall Semester)
Salary Range: The Assistant Professor (Academic Year) classification salary is $74,652 to $158,688/per year, $6,221 to $13,224/per month. The anticipated hiring range is $88,008 to $95,004/per year, $7,334 to $7,917/per month. Salary offered is commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Application Deadline: Review of applications to begin September 3, 2025. Position is open until filled (or recruitment canceled).

Required Qualifications:
• Ph.D. in marine biology, zoology, ecology, evolution, or a related field
• Postdoctoral research experience or equivalent
• Research experience in elasmobranch biology
• A record of research productivity commensurate with experience level
• Demonstrated commitment to effective teaching of biology courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels
• Demonstrated commitment to working successfully with a diverse student population, including Black/African American, Latine/x, Native American/Indigenous, low-income, first-generation, and minoritized students.

Preferred Qualifications:
• At least two years of postdoctoral research experience or equivalent
• Research experience (field and laboratory) in studying the biology of elasmobranchs. Topics may broadly include species interactions, population dynamics, movement ecology, behavior, physiology, etc.
• Demonstrated potential for establishing an externally funded research program
• Demonstrated interest in increasing the participation of underrepresented students in STEM fields through teaching and mentoring
• Teaching experience at the college level, with the ability to teach elasmobranch biology, fisheries ecology and conservation, ichthyology, or other courses in their area of specialty
• Commitment to learning and incorporating pedagogical best practices to create equitable courses that promote student learning
• Experience of successfully working with populations demographically and/or socioeconomically similar to the CSULB student body.
• Experience mentoring or supporting students with minoritized identities or experience using inclusive and culturally relevant teaching strategies in a diverse classroom

Duties:
• Develop and teach undergraduate and graduate courses in elasmobranch biology, fisheries ecology and conservation, ichthyology, and/or courses in the core biology curriculum
• Contribute to our efforts to diversify the scientific workforce by effectively training students both inside and outside the classroom
• Develop and sustain an independent externally funded research program in elasmobranch biology that involves undergraduate and graduate (M.S.) students and leads to peer-reviewed publications with student co-authors
• Participate in service to the department, college, university, and community

CSULB seeks to recruit faculty who enthusiastically support the University’s strong commitment to the academic success of all of our students, students with disabilities, students who are first generation to college, veterans, students with diverse socio-economic backgrounds, and students of diverse sexual orientations and gender expressions. CSULB seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the People of California, to maintain the excellence of the University, and to offer our students a rich variety of expertise, perspectives, and ways of knowing and learning.

CSULB is proud to be a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI), and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The Department of Biological Sciences is dedicated to ensuring that our highly diverse graduates are prepared for future success by offering a welcoming and challenging education that includes high-quality curriculum and research opportunities. Our students learn to think like scientists, using concept-based knowledge, rather than mastering facts. We value teaching and research as essential components of education; our graduate and undergraduate students engage in research mentored by 25 tenured/tenure-track faculty, leading to diverse career outcomes, such as health professions, academia, teaching, industry, and government agencies.

We have a strong record of graduating underrepresented and underserved students; at CSULB these efforts are supported by an extensive array of federal and state grants to support training of undergraduate and graduate students for research careers. Research facilities [] include a dedicated research laboratory, access to departmental field vehicles and a fleet of small boats, dive facilities with a compressor and fill station, biological collections, and extensive shared molecular, imaging, and computational instrumentation []. The CSULB Marine Biology Lab has two temperature-controlled recirculating seawater systems with mechanical and biological filtration and UV sterilization (6,000- and 8,000-L), an additional 24,000-L seawater storage tank, cold-room, aquaria and associated infrastructure for maintaining live organisms. The Shark Lab, immediately adjacent to the Marine Lab, is a uniquely recognized facility both on campus and in the local community due to a long history of public outreach. Additional resources specific to the Shark Lab include AUVs, a drone fleet, and an acoustic telemetry array of 80 receivers and 15 buoys [].

CSULB is a member of the Southern California Marine Institute [], a consortium of 25 major universities, colleges, and foundations in Southern California which maintains a marine lab facility located at the Port of Los Angeles that provides access to a variety of wet lab spaces, waterfront docks, and the 75’ research vessel RV Yellowfin. The CSULB campus is two miles from the ocean in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which has a population of more than 18.5 million.

Information on excellent benefits package available to CSULB faculty is located here: