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9 people are interested
2020 QBG Farm and Compost Internship, NYC Compost Project hosted by Queens Botanical Garden
ORGANIZATION: Queens Botanical Garden
Please visit the new page to apply.
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9 people are interested
Queens Botanical Garden (QBG) is seeking seasonal interns for the QBG Farm & Compost site, a program of the NYC Compost Project Hosted by QBG. The NYC Compost Project (NYCCP), created by the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) in 1993, works to reduce waste in NYC and rebuild NYC's soil by providing New Yorkers with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to produce and use compost locally. NYC Compost Project programs are funded by DSNY.
QBG Farm & Compost site is a place where New Yorkers can participate in and learn about composting and urban farming through tours, workshops, internships, and volunteer opportunities. We process over 300,000 pounds of food scraps and other organic material annually. The finished compost product is used across the Garden and the Farm as well as distributed to the community. On our farm, fruit and vegetables are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, and compost is applied to promote soil and plant health. Crops harvested are shared with seasonal interns and volunteers and donated to emergency food relief programs.
Interns will support NYC Compost Project staff in running and maintaining one acre of intensively planted, mixed vegetable, fruit, and flower production and educational areas. Interns will also help support on-site composting operations. One morning every week, interns will work alongside staff to assist in leading volunteer mornings. We are looking for dedicated, hard-working individuals with a keen interest in composting and urban farming.
Timeframe:
Interns must be able to work Mondays and Wednesday for a three- to six-month period of time between May and October.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn fundamentals of sustainable agriculture including crop choice, rotational growing, drip irrigation, and pest/disease management.
- Acquire hands-on skills in urban farming through planting, tending and harvesting crops
- Understand and maintain healthy soils, learn to use compost, cover crops, and mulch
- Cultivate an in-depth awareness about food scrap recycling and waste reduction in NYC
- Gain proficiency in composting by processing food waste and helping to manage onsite compost piles
Qualifications:
- Excellent communication skills; comfortable leading groups
- Commitment to being present and punctual on workdays
- Willingness to work outdoors in all weather; able to lift up to 40 pounds
- Interest in food waste reduction and urban agriculture
- Ability to perform diverse, sometimes repetitive, tasks that can be physically demanding
Interns will receive a weekly stipend of $100 and a share of vegetables as available. Qualifying applicants are encouraged to earn school or program credit for their work with us and to research funding opportunities through their learning institutions.
To apply, qualified candidates should send a resume and cover letter to compost@queensbotanical.org. Your cover letter should include any previous experience (not required) with agriculture or compost, your motivation for completing the internship, your availability, and how you heard about the internship. Please put "Farm and Compost Internship 2020" in the subject line of the email. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. The deadline to apply is Monday, January 27, 2020. Queens Botanical Garden is an equal opportunity employer.
Learn more at nyc.gov/compostproject and queensbotanical.org/farmandcompost/
More opportunities with Queens Botanical Garden
No additional volunteer opportunities at this time.
About Queens Botanical Garden
Location:
43-50 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355, US
Mission Statement
The Queens Botanical Garden, a living museum serving the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, is committed to presenting collections, education and research initiatives and programs that demonstrate environmental stewardship, promote sustainability and celebrate the rich cultural connections between people and plants.
Description
The Queens Botanical Garden (QBG), located at the northeast corner of Flushing Meadows Corona, is a private, nonprofit cultural institution that evolved from the 5-acre "Gardens on Parade" exhibit showcased at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair. Officially opening as the Queens Botanical Garden in 1948, QBG is now one of the City's 34 Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) members, featuring 39 acres of City land under its care.
QBG serves one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States. Nearly 300,000 people, speaking any of the more than 140 languages or dialects heard throughout the borough of Queens, visit the Garden annually. QBG is the primary source of botanical education for children and adults in the borough, fostering healthy connections between people and nature.
The Visitor & Administration Building, opened in September 2007, was designed to achieve the highest (platinum) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating. It includes three working roofs: one with solar panels to capture and use the sun's energy, another to collect rain for water uses, and a green, planted roof that is accessible to the public. It also makes exemplary use of natural ventilation and daylight, and includes a geothermal heating exchange system, composting toilets and other environmentally green technologies. The landscape portion of this ambitious project includes a cleansing biotope and constructed wetlands, as well as woodland, prairie and aquatic plant communities native to the New York region. The building is one of three green museums written of in Metropolitan Home magazine (Jan/Feb08),and The New York Times has highlighted the new structure as "something special" (January 20, 2008).
QBG continues to be a community facility while working to become a national leader among botanic gardens in cross-cultural programs and sustainable practices. As New York City has the lowest ratio of green space per capita of any major city in the United States, this project gives New Yorkers the opportunity to participate in a green demonstration project that reveals the connections between global conservation and local sustainability, deepening the visitor experience as we seek to teach, inform, and inspire
QBG is continually developing programs and exhibits that utilize the enormous educational potential of the green technologies that are utilized in the Garden's facilities and landscapes. Public education programs are accessible to all Queens residents as well as families in the other boroughs of New York and beyond. Crafts, hands-on activities, tours, story telling, music and dance movements contribute greatly to making the lessons of environmental sustainability and cultural connections relevant and dynamic. In addition to our well-reputed workshops and tours, QBG offers children and adults a rich array of programs in horticulture, environmental education and cultural arts that promote the Garden's dual vision of environmental sustainability and cultural expression, including Arbor Day, HSBC's Children's Garden and the popular Gardening Day.
CAUSE AREAS
WHEN
WHERE
43-50 Main StreetFlushing, NY 11355
DATE POSTED
December 24, 2019
SKILLS
- Environmental Education
- Farming
- Botany
- Gardening
- Horticulture
GOOD FOR
N/A
REQUIREMENTS
- Interns must be able to work Mondays and Wednesday for a three- to six-month period of time between May and October.
- • Excellent communication skills; comfortable leading groups • Commitment to being present and punctual on workdays • Willingness to work outdoors in all weather; able to lift up to 40 pounds • Interest in food waste reduction and urban agricultu