Paleonet: New York State Paleontologist, excellent job opportunity anticipated, short time line

[Roger D. K. Thomas]

Dear Colleagues,

     Ed Landing has reported, in a message circulated to about 100
colleagues, that the New York State Museum has received permission to fill
the position of State Paleontologist, vacated a year or more ago by Ed’s
retirement.

     I am sending this informal announcement of an anticipated job
opportunity to make it more widely known.  The forthcoming official
announcement may appear only on the NY State Civil Service web site and
that of the Geological Society of America.  It is not expected to appear on
the NYS Museum page nor on that of the State Education Department.
Moreover, the window of opportunity is expected to be narrow, with a
candidate to be selected by April 26.

     Ed has also learned that the position is expected to be listed at
Grade 27, which should pay ca. $90,000.  He notes that this would be a fine
job for a research-oriented person who would be prepared to do a
significant proportion of his or her research in NY State and/or on the
museum’s substantial existing collections.

     Ed Landing has not seen the job description, but he has set out his
personal ideas as to what the job entails, based on his own experience, as
follows.  Please bear in mind that this more or less what Ed expects to be
announced, but he should by no means be held responsible for its accuracy.
The following is absolutely unofficial, just the expectations of the State
Paleontologist, Emeritus.

*State Paleontologist *

The New York State Museum is looking for a candidate to fill the position
of State Paleontologist (Civil Service grade XX, salary range XXXXX-XXXXX
with pension and health insurance benefits). Candidates for this tenure
track position, which has a strong collections-based (curatorial) component
(in my career), will have a PhD, a record of independent research as
indicated by peer reviewed publications, and a record of or willingness to
apply for competitive research and collections-based funding. Work or
experience with the care, conservation, exhibit use, and
public/professional use of paleontology collections is desireable (in my
experience). The State Museum has a large (ca. one million specimen),
dominantly Paleozoic, research oriented paleontology collection with
materials that range from sedimentary rocks to protistans to bony fish,
fossil plants, and trace fossils from New York, 33 other states, and 35
foreign countries. Parts of the collection that have not been the object of
modern research (during my tenure) include large coral, brachiopod,
bryozoan, trilobite, and graptolite subcollections, and most of the mollusc
groups, and these materials could provide the basis for paleobiological
syntheses. Modest in-house funding is available for research and
collections work. ​Ad hoc aspects of the (my) job have been public
outreach, exhibits writing and contributions, answering tax payer requests
for information or specimen identification, collaboration with other museum
geologists and biologists, service to the profession, etc.

-- 

Roger D. K. Thomas
John Williamson Nevin Professor of Geosciences
___________________________________
Department of Earth and Environment
Franklin & Marshall College
P.O. Box 3003
Lancaster
Pennsylvania 17604-3003
______________________________
Office telephone:   717-291-4135
Office fax:     717-291-4186
Home telephone:    717-560-0486
http://www.fandm.edu/rthomas
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