UF Field and Fork Farm and Garden Internship

(0-3 credit options available; a limited number of work study/ paid positions are available)

Contact Robin Snyder for application!

The Field and Fork Farm and Garden Internship is an opportunity for a very broad spectrum of students to practice skills and ideas learned in classes and gain exposure to new skills and ideas.  This internship is for any student who wants to better understand where food comes from, how to grow it sustainably, and how to work as a team to achieve our goals.

Internship description
Field and Fork Interns will work with the farm and garden managers to do a wide spectrum of tasks that are integral to starting and running a working farm and maintaining a large, existing garden.

Interns completing 2 or more credits can focus approximately 25% of their time on an independent project. Projects will change seasonally and can be tailored to each intern’s learning goals and the current needs of the Field and Fork Program. Interns can choose any of the example projects listed below or propose a project that is not listed. 

a. Outreach, Education and Extension

1. Ex: Work in the urban agriculture demonstration area
2. Ex: Create educational signage for the farm and garden
3. Ex: Create a weed, pest, and disease guide for the farm and garden

b. Natural Resource Management

1. Ex: Plan and implement Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices such as scouting and identifying the beneficial and harmful insects
2. Ex: Experiment using different types of mulching systems to minimize irrigation needs and soil temperature fluctuations

c. Marketing and Communication

1. Ex: Work with food pantries and soup kitchens to better understand what they want and need and making sure that it aligns with farm-realities
2. Ex: Create marketing information for the pantries about Field and Fork, healthy eating, and cooking ideas.

d. Planning and Business Management

1. Ex: Practice the skill of doing crop enterprise budgets
2. Ex: Create crop rotation plan(s) for the farm

e. Research

1. Ex: Conduct breeding trials to test for productivity, heat tolerance, or flavor
2. Ex: Design and conduct experiment on issues relating to farming systems, such as water, soil and nutrients, plant/pest interactions, etc.

Summer Internship Requirements and Details

• Most internship positions during the summer of 2017 are physical, field-based positions. Work will typically be hot and dirty and will frequently require heavy lifting. We work outside in the rain and heat.
• A small number of internship positions are a combination of outdoor field work and indoor work that includes recordkeeping, website updating, developing educational programing for elementary through high school aged school groups, and managing volunteers.
• All interns will work with volunteer and educational groups that visit the farm and garden during the summer.
• Summer internships last 15 weeks: Monday, May 8th through August 18th.
• Each intern will have a one week vacation.
• Strong preference is given to interns who can work 20 hours/week or more.
• Our work days run from 8:30am to 3pm with a 30-minute lunch break. Occasional work in evenings and weekends may be required to accommodate volunteer groups.

To apply
To apply to be an intern with the Field and Fork Program, please fill out the Field and Fork Farm and Garden Internship application and email it along with your resume to Sarah Bostick (sarahbostick@ufl.edu). We will contact you via email to set up an interview time.

Summer 2017: applications are due by March 13th