Rutgers Gardens offers a summer season internship program, which runs for 15 weeks starting May 15th and ending August 25th. Student interns will work at Rutgers Gardens 5 days (37.5 hours) per week, with occasional weekend rotations. Applicants must be enrolled as students at Rutgers. No previous experience is required. Training will be provided by Gardens staff.
Students are invited to apply for one or both tracks of the Rutgers Gardens Internship Program. Note that students applying to both tracks, if selected as an intern, may only participate in one track for the 2023 season.
Public Garden Management Track
This internship track provides students with a firm understanding of how a public garden operates and serves a community. Through hands-on experience, interns gain knowledge of both basic and advanced horticultural techniques, proper garden maintenance practices, and how to effectively interact with visitors. Underscoring the value of time management and cost-effective practices, students learn what is required to keep a public garden beautiful, functional, and safe.
Public Garden Management interns will develop skills through hands-on experiences such as planting and maintaining various annual and perennial plant zones at the Gardens, pruning and caring for shrubs and trees, learning proper lawn maintenance, conducting woodland maintenance, including removal of invasive plants, and completing equipment operation and safety training. Interns will also learn the basics of greenhouse management and the essentials of plant care, including seeding, potting, propagating, watering, and fertilizing. Students will partake in the selection and retail sales of plant material and cut flowers. In addition to training provided by Rutgers Gardens staff, university faculty and/or guest speakers will offer their expertise through talks and demonstrations throughout the summer. Topics vary but may include native plant and pollinator gardens, soil ecology, plant pests and diseases, and more.
Student Farm Track
The Student Farm internship track immerses students in small-scale organic vegetable production, emphasizing practices that are ecologically sound, socially just, and economically viable. This summer internship track offers students an opportunity to participate in the Student Farm’s commitment to a future rooted in sustainable agriculture and food systems.
Student interns are a key element of the farm and can expect to learn skills in crop planning, seeding, field preparation, planting, crop maintenance, pest and disease control, harvesting, and distribution. In addition to hands-on training in crop production, interns gain marketing and sales experience through the Student Farm CSA and Cook’s Market. Applicants need to be able to perform physical labor on a daily basis, and must be able to work well independently and as a team. We value a cooperative relationship and look forward to working and learning with you side by side. The goal of this internship track is not only to educate Rutgers students about sustainable alternatives, but to inspire individuals to be agents of positive change as stakeholders in our food system.
Application Process
Click here for the Rutgers Gardens Internship Application. There is a place on the application to indicate which internship you are applying for. All application materials must be received by March 1, 2023.
Depending on your browser, there are 2 ways to save/submit the application. The most reliable method is to download the application and save it to your computer. Open the file, complete the fields, save it, and send as an attachment. If the file is opened in a web browser, it will only retain the personalized data if “print to pdf” is selected—not “download” or “save as.” Please be sure that your application contains the necessary information before submitting.