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. 
 

The MBGNA summer internship takes place Monday, May 5 to Friday, August 15, 2025. In order to fully participate in team collaboration and project work, selected candidates are expected to complete all dates of the internship. This position may require occasional evening and weekend hours.

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
   

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: MBGNAinternships@umich.edu 
 

This internship position is part of the Education team at MBGNA. This internship is focused on outreach and engagement with university learners and audiences. As part of the Education team, this position will regularly interact with university students, volunteers, interns, and administrators, as well as other MBGNA departments during the course of a workday.  

This position supports the MBGNA education department through outreach and engagement with the University of Michigan community. This position contributes to the goal of the MBGNA Education department to increase student engagement opportunities that position humans as active participants within the natural world. In addition, this position has the opportunity to contribute to community resilience by promoting educational activities that contribute to healthier communities, cultures, and ecosystems.

The University Community Outreach and Engagement Intern will contribute to strategic communications, relationship building, and event coordination with diverse university audiences and student organizations. This position will enhance efforts to develop unique, original programming for curricular and co-curricular experiences, utilizing student learning theory and community development approaches to ideate, design, execute, and evaluate learning programs. This position will contribute to career development of early and new professionals, including contributing to community programming for peers in the summer internship cohort, and designing future career development programs.  

This internship position will support the goals of the Education department through the following: 

• With support of supervisor, co-develop and deliver university outreach and engagement strategy
• Generate, organize, and facilitate community gathering opportunities for the internship cohort 
• Design and assess learner and facilitator feedback surveys 
• Analyze and assess 2024-2025 university outreach programs and events, and propose and create 2025-2026 university outreach programs and events
• Promote stewardship and relationship building with the natural world through interactive engagement and experiential learning. 
   

• 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. 
• Interest in place-based environmental or sustainability education
• Interest in contributing to a welcoming and inclusive community
• Previous experience or interest in gaining experience with communications and community organizing
• Willingness to work outdoors in all weather conditions.
• This position may require frequent travel between MBGNA site locations. 
   

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.

Compensation: $15.00/hour

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.

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.