Position Announcement: Swine Health and Production Extension Specialist

August 3, 2021 — The Ohio State University

The Department of Animal Sciences and the Center for Food Animal Health (CFAH) in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University seeks to employ a 12-month, tenure-track faculty member at the Assistant or Associate rank as a Swine Health and Production Extension Specialist. This DVM position will focus on swine extension and research. The position split will be 80% Extension and 20% applied research, with the appointment being 50% CFAH and 50% Department of Animal Sciences. Expectations are for this hire to begin in the late fall 2021, or when a suitable candidate is employed.

Expectations

Duties include, but are not limited to, assisting the Ohio swine industry by educating and training industry participants in disease prevention and treatment, commercial swine production practices, pork safety and swine welfare, and to conduct research on swine health. In support of existing OSU extension structures, the candidate will excel in outreach to commercial pork producers on swine disease intervention at the county and state level, to train non-swine veterinarians through technical workshops and to consult with existing swine practitioners.

Expectations of this position include supporting the long-term missions of Extension and to collaborate among swine industry, government, and OSU, to effectively respond to the emerging swine diseases and production issues. As a liaison between academia, veterinarians, and industry to translate research findings into practice, therefore benefitting stakeholders in an expedient manner.

This Swine Health Specialist is expected to be available to interact with relevant areas of swine studies and to offer complementary expertise, where appropriate, to research and teaching efforts of the current faculty in CFAH and Animal Sciences. This Extension Swine Veterinarian will consult closely with, and initially through, swine practitioners in the state in support of on-farm herd health programs.

This position is expected to have 20% applied research activities and to utilizing laboratory space available in Gerlaugh Hall (OARDC, Wooster). This new hire will have opportunities and expectations to collaborate with CFAH, AS and/or College of Veterinary Medicine scientists and to be a team/committee mentor of graduate students. CFAES-managed swine herds are available to support research endeavors addressing the major challenges for the Ohio pork industry - identification of optimal health and nutrition practices while maintaining profitability. Ohio ranks eighth in pork production in the US and is home to several major pork producers who have ranked consistently in the US top 40 pork production operations based on sow numbers. These Ohio producers provide potential opportunities for the Swine Health Specialist to partner with the pork industry in on farm research that is relevant to the Ohio and US swine industry. Finally, this new faculty member will be expected to seek external funding to support their research program(s).

Preferred Qualifications

DVM required, with practical experience in swine health and disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment; commercial swine production practices, pork safety and swine welfare and/or with specialty board certification, preferred. Applicants must possess strong interpersonal and communication skills, in addition to the ability and desire to work with diverse groups of individuals (including underrepresented groups) in a collegial team environment. Leadership and academic excellence should be evident in the application. Demonstrated strong commitment to outreach teaching are essential and excellence in innovative research.

Location

Opportunities exist for flexibility with a primary headquarters to be determined at either the CFAES-Wooster Campus (https://wooster.osu.edu/home) located in Wooster, Ohio; the CFAES- Columbus Campus; or other location approved by supervisor - with remote work and teleworking possible. The expectation is that the successful candidate will dedicate significant time with the Center for Food Animal Health (CFAH) colleagues, faculty in the CFAES Animal Science department, and OSU Veterinary Medicine while performing their applied research (e.g., on-farm research and diagnostic lab). There will also be required travel across the state meeting and collaborating with swine industry and Extension professionals to translate research and address key swine health and production issues. Established experience in the field will be considered in the offer at the assistant or associate level.

Commitment to Diversity

The Ohio State University is committed to establishing a culturally and intellectually diverse environment; and encouraging all members of our learning community to reach their full potential. We are responsive to dual-career families and strongly promote work-life balance to support our community members through a suite of institutionalized policies. Our college's Principles of Community affirms our conviction that racism has no place in CFAES. We are an NSF Advance Institution and a member of the Ohio/Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia Higher Education Recruitment Consortium.

Salary

Competitive and commensurate with education and experience.

Application deadline

Application review will begin Sept 1, 2021, but applications will be accepted until a successful applicant has been identified.

Application Instructions

Candidates should submit a letter of intent stating professional goals and interests, a comprehensive curriculum vitae and a discussion that includes:

• Selective swine production experiences.
• Evidence of a capacity to work with teams in a collegial manner.
• A statement of outreach and research interests.
• Publications and funding.
• A statement on the ways the applicant approaches diversity and inclusion.
• Names of three individuals and contact information to serve as references for the applicant should be submitted to the Chair of the search committee.
• All application materials must be received before an application will be considered.

Application materials should be submitted to (PDF format): https://osu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/OSUCareers. Refer to Job Opening R16006.

Questions should be directed to:
Dr. Bill Pope
329 Plumb Hall
2027 Coffey Road
Columbus, OH 43210
(614)292-3943, pope.2@osu.edu

The Ohio State University is committed to establishing a culturally and intellectually diverse environment, encouraging all members of our learning community to reach their full potential. We are responsive to dual-career families and strongly promote work-life balance to support our community members through a suite of institutionalized policies. We are an NSF Advance Institution and a member of the Ohio/Western Pennsylvania/West Virginia Higher Education Recruitment Consortium. The Ohio State University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, disability status, or protected veteran status.