Internship - Plant Nursery Assistant
Position Dates: 05/28/2024 - 05/26/2025
About us:
The Student Conservation Association (SCA) is the largest provider of hands-on environmental conservation programs for youth and young adults. Program participants protect and restore national parks, marine sanctuaries, cultural landmarks, and community green spaces across the country.
Position Description:
This intern position is located on Hawaii Island at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Nursery facilities are situated at 4000' elevation in wet forest. Field sites range from sea level to high elevation with a wide variety of environments including hot and dry coastal areas or densely vegetated, wet forest areas, and exposed mountain shrublands . The intern works in greenhouse and field under the direction of the Plant Propagation/Restoration Technician in propagating, outplanting and monitoring native plants. Work is often conducted independently or in small groups of 2-6 people. Travel will involve vehicles and hiking primarily, though occasional helicopter access to a work site may occur.
About us:
The Student Conservation Association (SCA) is the largest provider of hands-on environmental conservation programs for youth and young adults. Program participants protect and restore national parks, marine sanctuaries, cultural landmarks, and community green spaces across the country.
Position Description:
This intern position is located on Hawaii Island at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Nursery facilities are situated at 4000' elevation in wet forest. Field sites range from sea level to high elevation with a wide variety of environments including hot and dry coastal areas or densely vegetated, wet forest areas, and exposed mountain shrublands . The intern works in greenhouse and field under the direction of the Plant Propagation/Restoration Technician in propagating, outplanting and monitoring native plants. Work is often conducted independently or in small groups of 2-6 people. Travel will involve vehicles and hiking primarily, though occasional helicopter access to a work site may occur.
Duties Include:
- Participating in all aspects of nursery phytosanitation such as weeding, deadheading, sweeping growing spaces, sterilization of growing media, pots, flats, etc Learning to identify over 100 species of native plants, weeds, and plant pests at various stages of their life cycles Collecting plant propagules for propagation both by seed and by asexual methods such as cuttings and layers Conducting plant care tasks including regular pest inspections, transplanting, applications of fertilizers
- Practicing Integrated Pest Management including applying various pesticides as necessary Outplanting, and conducting subsequent monitoring, at various restoration sites Participating in basic nursery construction and maintenance tasks, including repairs to structures and irrigation systems Assisting with occasional field camps involved with plant monitoring, vegetative surveys, and seed collecting in remote areas
- Leads or assists in tours of the seed bank and rare plant greenhouse facilities as outreach to school groups, or other community groups
- Assists with entering data into computer databases and with the preparation of summary reports of project accomplishments and challenges.
Member Benefits:
Member Qualifications:
It is SCA's policy that all AmeriCorps-required background checks must return cleared prior to the position's start; this includes being fingerprinted for the FBI check. Otherwise, the AmeriCorps award will be removed or the position's start date will be delayed due to non-compliance.
- $338 - weekly living allowance
- AmeriCorps eligible (must complete 900 hours to earn$3,447.50 Education Award, an average of 17.5 hrs/week)
- NOTE: this position will work a variable number ofhours per week depending on the season (anywhere from 5to 40 hrs/wk), but the weekly living allowance remains the same regardless of hours worked in a week. Please inquire during theinterview about the work schedule. This position is designed to accomodate students attending college.
- Intern must have their own housing locally or arrange for it themselves
- All allowances subject to applicable federal, state, and local taxes
Member Qualifications:
- May require strenuous physical exertion and heavy lifting, e.g large potted plants, bales of growing media.
- Must be able to hike on obscure trails with a 45lb pack and camp up to four nights in remote backcountry.
- Must possess a valid driver's license and be able to drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle.
- Position requires high degree of attention to detail, often under challenging field conditions.
It is SCA's policy that all AmeriCorps-required background checks must return cleared prior to the position's start; this includes being fingerprinted for the FBI check. Otherwise, the AmeriCorps award will be removed or the position's start date will be delayed due to non-compliance.
- For SCA's COVID-19 guidance, please refer towww.thesca.org/covid