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.

This is a student summer internship position with the Campus Farm at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. The Campus Farm is a student-driven, multi-stakeholder, living-learning lab for sustainable food systems work on campus. The farm is dedicated to the ecological production of food, on-farm carbon neutrality, and food justice centered around food grown by students for students. Produce grown on the farm goes to dining halls on campus, UM Farm Stand, Maize and Blue Cupboard food pantry, and other food access programs in the community. The Campus Farm summer internship takes place Monday, May 4 to Friday, August 28, 2026. In order for the farm to function during our busiest part of the year, selected candidates are expected to complete all dates of the internship. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required.

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 access and impact 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.

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: MBGNAinternships@umich.edu 

This internship position is part of the UM Campus Farm at MBGNA. As part of the Campus Farm team, this position will regularly interact with UM students and staff, community partners, and other MBGNA departments during the course of a workday.

This internship position will support the goals of the UM Campus Farm through the following:

• Organic transplant seeding, watering and care
• Crop planting, weeding, irrigation, pest and disease management
• Organic and ecological soil management
• Small farm-equipment and hand tool use and operation
• Harvest, post-harvest handling, food safety, sales and distribution
• Internships will follow a scaffolded structure for increasing knowledge, skills and management over the course of the summer allowing increased agency over farm management towards the end of the internship.

• 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 2025 or are planning to earn a degree by May 2026 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. 
• Applicants should enjoy physical and at times strenuous work, being outdoors, and reaping the physical and metaphorical fruits (and vegetables) of their labor.
• Ability and willingness to work in an inclusive and team-oriented way with diverse audiences, partner organizations, and programs involved with the Campus Farm.
• Must have a flexible schedule with occasional weekend and evening availability.
• Potential for continuation part time into fall term exists as do opportunities for possible advancement into student management team roles.

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 access and impact across lands, waters, and dynamic systems

As part of a learning community, interns will be expected to:

• Attend a group orientation at the beginning of the summer
• Participate in professional development sessions offered throughout the summer
• Engage in opportunities for assessment and reflection
• Attend a final celebration at the end of the summer

40 hours per week / 5 days per week

Includes occasional evening and weekend work

MBGNA comprises 841 total acres, spanning across four sites, including the gardens, arboretum, a bog, and natural areas. This internship takes place mainly at the UM Campus Farm at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 N. Dixboro Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.

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.

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days.  The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled anytime after the minimum posting period has ended.

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.