Professor of Cooperative Extension-Groundwater Quantity and Quality
University of California Merced/ UC ANR | Posted Jul 9, 2025
Deadline: Aug 8, 2025
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The University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), in collaboration with the University of California, Merced, invites applications for a Professor of Cooperative Extension at the Assistant Rank, which has the formal appointment title Specialist in Cooperative Extension.
The Professor of Cooperative Extension-Groundwater Quantity and Quality will address the challenges of drought, climate change, and their link to long-term groundwater overdraft through an innovative research and extension program. In collaboration with academics, public agencies, and non-profit and private sector partners, they will build capacity across California to sustainably manage groundwater quantity and quality. The successful candidate is expected to develop applied research that supports sustainable use strategies and conduct outreach that facilitates the adoption of new science-based knowledge for water management in the western region of California’s Central Valley. We seek a candidate with expertise in areas including hydrogeology, hydrogeochemistry, sustainable groundwater management, current (e.g., salinity, nitrates, TCPs) and emerging (e.g., microplastics, PFAS) contaminants in groundwater, groundwater monitoring and modeling, managed aquifer recharge, and strategic cropping systems. Read the full PVA: https://recruit.ucanr.edu/JPF00331
The San Joaquin Valley holds significant importance as it leads the nation in the production of various orchard, field, and vegetable crops. However, it relies heavily on groundwater, especially in drought years, which increases pressure on supply and presents significant challenges to developing sustainable farming systems. Many farms and crops require innovative interventions through science-based solutions that address sustainability and enhance agricultural productivity under water-related challenges. Increasingly unpredictable climatic conditions are impacting natural systems as well as large, intensive cropping systems, making research and extension interventions critically important. The WSREC, where the position will be housed, is in the most intensive and diversified farming system in California, faced with multidimensional challenges centered around water availability and quality. The position will benefit from UC Merced’s distinguished leadership in precision agricultural technology and its comprehensive portfolio of water research, education, and extension projects. This critical position will address important issues related to groundwater and salinity in this region, which have the potential to be scaled out across California and beyond.
Major duties and responsibilities include:
• Develop and implement a collaborative research, education and outreach program with the goal of enhancing the sustainable use and quality of groundwater
• Conduct applied research on topics such as:
o Subsurface hydrology and assessing groundwater quality in the San Joaquin Valley
o Development and use of models of groundwater hydrology, groundwater/surface water interactions, and chemical fate and transport for management and planning activities, including various scenarios for water use in agriculture
o Design of conjunctive use scenarios for sustainable farming under different cropping patterns
o Evaluation of the impacts of climate change, droughts, floods, nitrates, pesticides, and other chemical applications on groundwater quality and quantity, and development of novel groundwater use strategies considering the quantity-quality relationship approach
o Development of different scenarios and practical guidelines for groundwater recharge through field measurements, remote sensing, and modeling
o Agricultural drainage and its impact on salinity management and groundwater quality
• Extend knowledge on groundwater quality and management through different modalities and approaches, which may include extension publications, newsletters, web pages, blogs, policy briefs, UCCE Advisor meetings, on-site visits to farmer locations, stakeholder validation workshops, and grower workshops.
• Develop and implement, in collaboration with UC ANR academics, educational programs on groundwater management, with a focus on conjunctive use that maximizes the sustainable use of the available water. This includes groundwater assessment, development of irrigation management and crop selection strategies.
• Collaborate with UCCE Advisors and Specialists, UC Merced faculty, UC Research and Extension Centers, and UC ANR statewide programs, institutes, and program teams to conduct applied research and inform extension efforts at the local, regional, and statewide levels.
• Engage with networks of groundwater management professionals throughout the state, including the Groundwater Resources Association, and provide expertise to agencies responsible for implementing and overseeing groundwater management, including the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the State Water Resources Control Board, and regional Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs).
• Network with scientists from DWR, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the US Geological Survey, as well as with private sector experts and stakeholders working on groundwater management plans and technologies.
• Work closely with Westland and other water districts and relevant authorities to address implementation requirements and challenges of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and other related programs (e.g., The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program).