Position Description

Performs professional duties in a specialized collection such as art, history, education, or natural sciences in an assigned area. Supervises all personnel assigned to a specialized area including professional, technical, clerical, graduate assistants, and volunteer staff.

About the Department and/or College

The Museum of Texas Tech University (MoTTU) welcomes applications for the Curator of Paleontology position.  The Museum is looking for an imaginative, forward thinking, collaborative, vertebrate paleontologist or paleobotanist whose interest and research focus aligns with and/or compliments the Museum’s paleontological and geological collection and mission.  The paleontology collection at MoTTU includes nearly 25,000 paleontological and geological specimens focused primarily on western Texas, western North America, and Antarctica.  The collection is particularly strong in North American Triassic vertebrate material, Paleogene and Neogene mammals, and Antarctic Cretaceous vertebrates and rock samples.

The Curator leads the Museum’s Paleontology Division, reports to the Executive Director, and has close collaborations with the other museum divisions and Campus Departments (e.g. Geosciences).  The successful candidate will (1) grow and enhance the collection through field collection, collection grants, and building relationships with private landowners and government entities;  (2) develop strong, extramurally- funded research and produce peer-reviewed publications that will elevate both their field of study and the research mission of the Museum and University; (3) develop innovative in-house and traveling exhibitions (with the exhibition division) and special guided tours that broaden our impact in the community as an academic resource, cultural attraction, and stimulator of humanity’s ideals; and (4) assist the Museum of Texas Tech to flourish by building advocates in the community, cultivating relationships with potential donors, and assisting the Executive Director in projects that provide the division and institution sustainability and support.

The MoTTU was established in 1929 and includes nearly 200,000 square feet of enclosed space. The Museum is a multi-disciplinary institution that includes active collecting and research in anthropology, art, clothing & textiles, history, the natural sciences, and paleontology.  The Museum includes the main museum building on 4th Street (Lubbock, Texas), the Lubbock Lake Landmark (LLL), and the Natural Science Research Laboratory (NSRL).  With a staff of more than 50, the Museum sees on average over 160,000 visitors and participants per year.  The MoTTU also houses the nationally recognized Heritage and Museum Sciences Master of Arts Program, which is educating the next generation of museum professionals.

For more information about the Museum of Texas Tech University please go to https://www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/

Major/Essential Functions

• Grow & enhance the collection through field collection and donations of topical, regional, and important scientific relevance, and build relationships with private landowners and government entities for research opportunities.
• Conduct & facilitate collections-based and discipline-based research, produce peer-reviewed publications, develop, and submit research and collection grant proposals, and execute successfully funded projects.
• Recommend the acquisition of collections and ensure authenticity, scientific relevance, and research use of the collection.  Catalog information and collection value for newly accessioned materials.  Maintain electronic databases. Conduct conservation evaluations & stabilization efforts.  Conduct provenance research.  Foster donor relationships. Provide and monitor evaluations of the collection for insurance purposes.   Conduct environmental monitoring in the collections and maintain records. Coordinate evaluations with Museum Registrar.
• Build strong collaborative relationship with the Department of Geosciences.  Opportunities (as an adjunct professor or academically-recognized status in the Department) include supplementary class instruction prospects (pay-compensated by Geosciences), supervising and/or advising graduate students (graduate student teaching assistantship opportunities and lab expenses provided by Department of Geosciences), seminars, and field method mentoring for undergraduate and graduate students.
• Provide oversight & leadership to staff, graduate student apprentices, & volunteers through the utilization of a team-based approach.  Provide systematic & strategic ideas to enhance the collection to reflect the Museum’s mission & goals and the curator’s research; update and communicate the Division’s collection plan with leadership; implement collections management policies and procedures; provide basic collections management.
• Assist in the advocacy of the Museum, working with the executive director, development personnel, education, and marketing & communication staff on projects, events, and programming.  Collaborate with campus personnel & entities and off-campus institutions to expand collections dissemination, potential partnerships, and research opportunities.
• Maintain divisional collection reports.  Coordinate with Registration & Operations staff.
• Carry out responsibility in exploring topics, story line development, collections research, assessment, and selection of specimens and images, and drafting text and labels for in-house exhibitions.  Collaborate & coordinate with the Museum’s Exhibits Division.  Coordinate with Exhibits on the movement of objects.  Develop travel exhibitions for rental in coordination with the Museum’s exhibits division, the museum registrar, & marketing.
• Coordinate and work in partnership with the Education Division to develop public programming (including special tours), for a large array of age groups.  Provide specimen identification services to the public.
• Provide assistance and collaborate with the MoTTU’s Museum Association on events and programs that complement both the division and Association.
• Maintain an active role in professional paleontology & museum organizations.
• Deliberate loan requests and assess collections regarding availability and loan rigors.  Coordinate loans with Museum Registrar.  Complete condition reports and loan inventories. Update and maintain division’s loan database. Coordinate with Museum Registrar regarding the distribution and receipt of collection loan agreements.
• Advocate to and liaison with University faculty members to collaborate with, and promote the use of, the Division and its collections/exhibits as part of undergraduate and graduate coursework and education programs.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree and two years of experience in a closely related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctorate (PhD) in vertebrate paleontology or paleobotany. Two or more years’ experience in a museum or non-profit cultural institution, preferably with at least 1 year experience in a collections or director leadership role. Strong record of research and peer-reviewed publications and attaining external research grant support as a PI or CoPI.