Organic Garden and Permaculture Education Summer Intern (@ Riveredge Nature Center)
Organic Garden and Permaculture Education Summer Intern @ Riveredge Nature Center in Newburg, WI - shared by Jobs That Help as a third party
Job Type Details: Paid Full Time Summer Internship
Love gardening and working outdoors?
Excited about teaching and sharing gardening and cooking activities with young people?
Riveredge Nature Center is looking for a motivated, independent, and hard-working individual to serve as our Organic Garden and Permaculture Education Intern.
Mission of Riveredge
The mission of Riveredge Nature Center is to inspire, inform, and enable responsible environmental decision-making and sustainable practices by providing leadership in education, preserving and restoring the Riveredge and other natural sanctuaries, and serving as a resource for scientific research.
Riveredge has a 55-year history as a leader in environmental education in the State of Wisconsin. The Center provides science-based, inquiry-oriented, outdoor experiences to learners of all ages
Purpose
The intern will work creatively with the Riveredge Nature Center team of staff and volunteers to develop and maintain the organic garden, outdoor kitchen, and the permaculture site for use by Riveredge Nature Journeys Summer Camps and other educational groups.
Responsibilities
- Assist in the design, planting, and care of the Children’s Organic Garden and the Riveredge Farm under the guidance of the Senior Facilities Manager.
- Create opportunities for summer campers to engage in the garden and the permaculture farm through planting, weeding, and harvesting vegetable and fruit crops.
- Share environmental education lessons by co-teaching three week-long garden-focused summer camp sessions for ages 6-12.
- Complete weekly garden and farm activities including: sowing, transplanting, weeding, watering, harvesting, fertilizing, composting and pest control.
- Assist in development and implementation of meaningful educational activities related to the organic garden, outdoor kitchen, and permaculture plantings.
- Assist with other Youth and Family environmental education programs during evenings and weekends as needed.
- Other duties as assigned.
Expectations
In addition to the responsibilities, the Garden and Permaculture Education Intern is expected to meet the following expectations set forth to all staff members of Riveredge Nature Center:
- Meaningfully contribute to the Riveredge staff team. This includes helping with projects, programs, and events that may fall outside of the primary duties or departments of this position description.
- Foster an inclusive and supportive environment through personal actions such as supporting and helping other staff members and volunteers.
- Provide high quality customer service experiences to all guests and volunteers.
- Strive for excellence and innovation.
Preferred Qualifications
- A student or individual who has an interest and experience in environmental education, natural resources, agriculture, or a related field or has obtained a Bachelor’s degree in one of those fields.
- Self-starter and self-directed with a well-developed ability to work independently.
- Able to work outdoors in a variety of weather conditions.
- Able to perform lifting and bending associated with gardening.
- Enjoys working with children of all ages and families.
- Enthusiastic, positive, motivated and likes to have fun on the job.
- Ability to work as a member of a team by sharing decision making while personally assuming and also asking for responsibility and accountability.
- Experience with vegetable gardening, farming, or environmental education for children.
- Good communication skills, punctual, creative and energetic.
- Ability to work with a diverse group of people of all ages and abilities.
Compensation & Working Conditions
The Garden and Permaculture Education Intern will receive a stipend of $425/week (without housing). Onsite or nearby housing may be available through Riveredge or partner agencies. Housing will be available on a first come first served basis and will be shared with other interns.
This is a seasonal position beginning in May lasting until no later than September. On average, the Intern will agree to work 40 hours per week. While most hours will take place Monday-Friday, some weekend and evening hours may be included. Most of the work will take place outdoors and includes physical labor and lifting.