Job Title: Restoration Ecology Instructor
Classification: Faculty, Summer Session II
Duration: Five weeks (July 12 - August 13, 2027); one-session appointment
Applications: Review begins immediately; open until filled
Location: Great Lakes Campus, Mancelona, Michigan USA
About Au Sable
At Au Sable, we believe Christians should be leading the way in solving the earth’s toughest environmental challenges. Through hands-on learning in the outdoors, engaging professors who integrate faith into their instruction, and a supportive community of friends, we inspire and educate students to serve, protect and restore God’s earth. Our university-level courses emphasize scientific rigor, professional preparation, and Christian stewardship through field-based and online instruction.
Restoration Ecology Faculty Position
We seek applicants to teach BIOL 482: Restoration Ecology during Summer Session II (July 12 - August 13, 2027). This five-week, 4-credit, 100-contact-hour course combines restoration theory with applied field investigations of degraded ecosystems in northern Michigan. Students learn to read landscapes, consider environmental history and ecological trajectories, assess restoration goals and techniques, and evaluate the outcomes of restoration interventions. Instruction is expected to be predominantly field-based and to include an applied restoration project or field laboratory component.
Restoration Ecology is the required Category 1 course for Au Sable’s Ecological Restoration Practitioner Certificate and is also an optional Category 3 course for the Environmental Policy & GIS Practitioner and Forest & Land Management Practitioner Certificates. The faculty member will maintain the course’s established academic progression and practice-oriented outcomes, including restoration case studies, field notebooks, applied project work, and evaluation of students’ scientific and professional competencies. The successful candidate will coordinate with Institute staff and local project partners to maintain continuity of field sites and meaningful restoration learning experiences.
The instructor will teach approximately two full course days per week, participate in weekly campus-wide Integration Days, integrate Christian principles of creation care into instruction, and contribute to Sunday evening vespers. The selected faculty member will preserve approved course learning outcomes and implement the Institute’s designated signature-assignment, course-evaluation, and faculty-reflection procedures.
Course Description (2026–2027 Academic Catalog): Biol 482 Restoration Ecology. 4 cr; 100 contact hrs. Ecological principles for ecosystem restoration and applications for restoring degraded and endangered species. Field studies include analysis of restoration and rehabilitation work with the Kirtland’s warbler, an officially designated wild river, coastal dunes, kettle-hole bogs, deforested lands, degraded residential and farming sites, and abandoned oil wells. A practical field lab is included in which techniques are applied to a specific site. Prerequisite: one year of biology and one course in ecology or field biology, or permission of professor. Course schedule B. Field, Applied, Interdisciplinary.
Setting
Au Sable’s Great Lakes Campus is located in the north woods of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula near Mancelona, approximately 40 miles east of Traverse City. The region offers forest, wetland, dune, riparian, and other restoration settings, and the course has drawn on partnerships and field projects throughout northern and western Michigan.
Faculty Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
· Master’s degree or PhD (ABD considered) in restoration ecology, ecology, conservation biology, natural resources, environmental science, or a closely related field, together with relevant restoration experience.
· Demonstrated practical experience assessing, designing, implementing, or monitoring ecological restoration work.
· Ability to teach restoration principles and lead safe field instruction with undergraduate students.
· Ability to integrate Christian principles of creation care into teaching and maintain existing program and certificate learning outcomes.
Preferred Qualifications
· Experience managing or evaluating restoration projects in forest, wetland, riparian, grassland, or other temperate ecosystems.
· Professional experience with restoration monitoring, plant/community identification, native-species establishment, invasive-species management, or adaptive management.
· Evidence of effective college-level field teaching, applied project supervision, and partnerships with land trusts or conservation agencies.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Au Sable Institute is committed to combating racism, sexism, and other systems of oppression. We strongly encourage applications from people of color, women, persons with disabilities, and all individuals who will contribute to the excellence of the Institute. Au Sable Institute does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures.
Salary and Benefits
Stipend is $5,400 for the 4-credit course. Housing is provided for the faculty member and immediate family. Partial reimbursement of mileage or airfare for travel to and from the Great Lakes campus is available.
Application Process
Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Interested applicants should email heath.garris@ausable.org a current CV and brief letter describing relevant graduate training or professional expertise, teaching experience, and approach to the course outcomes and Christian integration described above. The Institute may also invite faculty to apply following a preliminary review of their academic and professional qualifications. Finalists may be asked for references, transcripts, or teaching materials as needed; materials already substantiated through documented prior experience or other reliable evidence need not be requested again. All candidates will receive a documented course-specific qualifications review before appointment.
Questions regarding the position or requests for assistance from persons with disabilities may be directed to:
Dr. Heath Garris
Au Sable Institute
7526 Sunset Trail NE
Mancelona, MI 49659 USA
Phone: 864-630-8884
Email: heath.garris@ausable.org