How to Apply
Applications are welcomed and encouraged from all qualified individuals regardless of background and identity. A one-page cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume in a single pdf file. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experiences that directly relate to it.
Job Summary
The MBGNA summer internship takes place Monday, May 5 to Friday, August 22, 2025. In order to fully participate in team collaboration and project work, selected candidates are expected to complete all dates of the internship. This internship position is run jointly by the Education and Campus Farm teams at MBGNA and reports jointly to Campus Farm Program Manager and Education Team Lead. This internship is focused on youth education, refugee resettlement, farming/gardening, food access/justice. The Refugee Garden Youth Education Intern works directly with youth and families accompanying and or enrolled in RAPP (Refugee Agriculture Partnership Program), providing activities, unstructured nature play, and environmental education as appropriate while families are onsite. This intern will gain skills in supporting clients in a collaborative resettlement program, developing a sense of belonging and welcome to children and their families
Learning Objectives
The MBGNA summer internship provides university-level students with opportunities to:
- Participate in experiential learning in a nature-based organization
- Directly contribute to strategic operations of a mission-driven organization
- Help unify and catalyze equity and justice across lands, waters, and dynamic systems
This internship position is part of the Campus Farm and Youth Education teams at MBGNA. This internship is focused on youth education, refugee resettlement, farming/gardening, food access/justice. As part of the Campus Farm and Youth Education teams, this position will regularly interact with RAPP Families, Campus Farm interns and staff, Youth Education interns and staff along with visitors, volunteers, and other MBGNA departments during the course of a workday.
Who We Are
Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum (MBGNA) is a transformative force for social and ecological resilience through the waters and lands we steward.
We turn this commitment into action by:
- Positioning humans as active participants within the natural world and compelling the university community and our publics to negotiate the full complexity that entails
- Advancing partnerships, programs, user experience, and all that we steward to catalyze equity and justice in a radically changing world
- Emerging as University of Michigan's premier partner for research, teaching, and public impact in sustainability, climate-forward practices, and biocultural diversity
- Promoting healthier communities, cultures, and ecosystems through active care and cultivation of the gardens, fields, natural habitats, and dynamic systems that sustain our world.
MBGNA seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitments to serve the diverse people of Michigan and sustain the excellence of the University of Michigan.
For more information about MBGNA and the summer internship program, please visit: https://mbgna.umich.edu/summer-internships
For questions about the internship application, please contact:
[email protected]Responsibilities*
- Implement and further develop as needed RAPP Youth Education program with clients and families when they are on site at MBGNA for classes and garden time.
- Conduct all material assembly and preparation for on-site RAPP Youth Education activities
- Work closely with Jewish Family Services RAPP program coordinator and MBGNA Campus Farm Program Manager to coordinate youth activities with adult activities so youth are in the building when clients are in the building and youth are in the garden when clients are in the garden.
- Work with CF program manager and RAPP program coordinator to cultivate a RAPP youth garden plot in one of the plots within the RAPP garden to allow RAPP youth a space to garden alongside their parents/families.
- Learn and maintain a functional knowledge of the RAPP garden irrigation, planting, tools storage systems so as to be able to help support clients and families in their use of the RAPP garden space.
- Adjust and improve the RAPP Youth Education schedule and programming, document for future iterations
- Collaborate and coordinate with Campus Farm, Education and Jewish Family Services partner for programmatic operations and compliance.
Required Qualifications*
- Applicants must have one year of experience enrolled in a college or university by the internship start date. Recent college graduates who earned a degree in December 2024 or are planning to earn a degree by May 2025 are eligible to apply.
- This position may require a valid driver's license and a motor vehicle record check in order to operate MBGNA vehicles.
- This position requires a background check in order to work with minors according to Children on Campus policy.
- Willingness to work outdoors in all weather conditions.
- Willingness to do physical work.
- Must have the ability to work primarily Monday through Friday 8am-4:30pm with some flexibility to work occasional evenings or weekends
Desired Qualifications*
- Basic gardening experience or a willingness to learn
- Language skills in Arabic, Dari, French, Spanish, Pashto, Urdu, or other languages other than English
Modes of Work
Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.
Additional Information
Compensation: $15.00/hour
Application Deadline
The MBGNA internship application will be open Wednesday, January 15 - Sunday, March 2, 2025. Applications will be reviewed after the internship application closes. Selected candidates will be contacted for interviews beginning Monday, March 10, 2025. Final candidates will be notified by March 31, 2025.
U-M EEO/AA Statement
The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.
