USDA NextGen Internships

Frontieress Farm Internship

Organization: Frontieress Farm
Location: 1348 Cripple Creek Road, Fairbanks, AK (In-Person)
Contact: Megan Schulze | frontieressfarm@gmail.com | 907-799-5245
Interns Needed: 1
Hours per Week: Part-time (22.5 hrs/week, 3 days) or Full-time (37.5 hrs/week, 5 days)
Internship Term: Summer 2025
Travel Required: No

About the Organization

Frontieress Farm is a small, seasonal farm specializing in cut flowers and diversified vegetables. Committed to sustainable and chemical-free practices, we enhance soil fertility through composting, crop rotation, biodiversity, and natural amendments. Our mission is to support, exemplify, and advocate for small-scale organic farming in Alaska.

Job Duties

• Field preparation, transplanting, weeding, and cultivation
• Harvesting, washing, and packing produce
• Bouqueting flowers for market
• Assisting at the Farmer’s Market
  
  

Requirements & Training

• Ability to work 8+ hours on your feet in all weather conditions
• Physically fit and able to perform repetitive farm tasks (bending, squatting, kneeling, lifting)
• Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs
• Hands-on training in market garden production and management provided

Benefits

• Gain experience in small-scale organic farming
• Learn about market garden operations and sustainable practices
• Hands-on training in flower and vegetable production
  
  

Contact: Megan Schulze at frontieressfarm@gmail.com. Or Jay Clapeck at jjclapeck@alaska.edu

RurAL CAP - Community Gardening and Food Security Internship

• Job Title: Community Gardening and Food Security Internship
• Organization: RurAL CAP
• Location: Anchorage, Alaska.
• About RurAL CAP: RurAL CAP works to improve the quality of life for low-income Alaskans.
• Job Summary: This internship involves assisting with Farm to School programming, gardening with various community members, and orchard and food forest projects.
• Responsibilities:
• Assisting with Farm to School programming.
• Gardening with adults, children, and families at Supportive Housing sites.
• Working on orchard and food forest projects.
• Qualifications:
• Any UAF student is welcome to apply.
• Hours: 10-20 hours per week.
• Days: Variable.
• Time: May-September (flexible).
• Travel: Travel around Anchorage, with potential rural travel.
• Background Check: Yes.
• Benefits:
• Training in organizing and maintaining community gardens.
• Experience implementing educational programming.
• Work Location: In-person.
• Address: 731 E 8th Ave.
• Contact: Emily Becker at ebecker@ruralcap.org. or Jay Clapeck at jjclapeck@alaska.edu

Alaska FFA Foundation - Agricultural Leadership and Development Internship

• Job Title: Agricultural Leadership and Development Internship
• Organization: Alaska FFA Foundation
• Location: Palmer, Alaska
• Interns Needed: 1-2
• About Alaska FFA Foundation: The Alaska FFA Foundation supports the FFA, a national youth-led organization focused on leadership and career development in agriculture and natural resources. Our motto is “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.”
• Job Summary: This internship offers a dynamic experience in agricultural leadership and development, supporting the Alaska FFA Foundation's mission through various administrative, communication, and event-related tasks.
• Responsibilities:
• Creating sponsor packets and engaging with potential sponsors.
• Developing and distributing newsletters and managing social media content.
• Assisting in the creation of materials for competitive events.
• Organizing and maintaining inventory.
• Facilitating workshops (optional).
• Judging events.
• Communicating with agricultural education teachers.
• Coordinating personal projects related to agriculture.
• Qualifications:
• Familiarity with FFA (preferred, but not required).
• Open to any college year.
• Preference for students pursuing degrees in agriculture, natural resources, education, or communication.
• Willingness to learn, self-motivation, and ability to ask questions.
• Hours: 20-35 hours per week.
• Days: Monday-Thursday, with potential weekend work for events.
• Time: Summer 2025 (potential for other seasons in the future).
• Travel: Potential for in-state travel with staff and FFA officers.
• Background Check: May be required for roles involving student interaction. Resume required.
• Benefits:
• Facilitation training.
• Networking within the Division of Agriculture/Department of Natural Resources.
• Potential networking with sponsors.
• Training in Excel/Google Sheets and Google Suite for Nonprofits.
• Work Location: In-person, with some hybrid flexibility.
• Address: 1801 S Margaret Suite 7, Palmer AK 99645
• Contact: taylor.nelson@alaska.gov or Jay Clapeck at jjclapeck@alaska.edu

Horticulture Internship

Email: alaskabeautypeony@gmail.com  Phone: (907) 299-6964
Physical address of pack house: 1435 Lakeshore Drive, Homer AK 99603
Mailing Address: PO BOX 3406, Homer, AK 99603

 

Mission Statement: The mission of the Alaska Beauty Peony Cooperative is to create a sustainable cut flower industry in the Homer area through shared marketing resources, infrastructure and education.

Dates:

• Seasonal work May through August with potential to extend internship through fall to assist with end of season field maintenance, product development (tea, bath soak) and marketing (digital and trade shows).

 

Employment Details:

• Interns will be exposed to commercial cut flower production from boots on the ground at several farms to the central pack house where inventory from a dozen farms is aggregated and distributed to markets throughout Alaska and the Lower 48 states through local delivery, refrigerated trucks, UPS and Alaska Air Cargo.  
• Interns will learn about farm infrastructure including fertigation systems, mobile coolers, techniques for field maintenance to optimize production, disease prevention, harvest requirements and post-harvest handling procedures including grades of flowers, inventory tracking and the importance of maintaining the cold chain.
• Interns will take part in value added product development.  This will include deadheading flower heads in the field and shredding petals to dehydrate in a DEC approved kitchen at the packhouse for the production of peony tea, bath soak and soap.  
• Interns will have the opportunity to help host agritourism events during Homer’s 6th annual Peony Celebration to include tours, the farmer for a day program and bouquet bar.  There will also be opportunities to assist in making flower bouquets and staffing the co-op booth at the Homer Farmer’s Market.
• Interns are invited to help compile photos and video to contribute to the co-op’s social media, newsletter and website outreach to tell the story of intensive, small-scale farming in Alaska and the niche market for Alaska Peonies and our value-added products.
• 40 hours a week with a flexible schedule. Harvest crews work rain or shine. Fresh cut peonies are harvested at a mature bud stage and stored at 34-degrees. Appropriate gear for work on the farm (supportive shoes, sun hat) and at the packhouse (warm jacket, gloves, hat) are recommended.
• Housing will be provided in a yurt or dry cabin on a farm with access to bathroom, laundry and kitchen.  There will be opportunities to join family dinners and enjoy local produce and seafood.  Interns are encouraged to explore the Homer area and Kachemak Bay in their free time. Transportation will be provided between the farms and pack house plus to town as needed. Interns are also welcome to bring their own transportation (bike, car.)

 

Required Skills: 

• We are seeking organized, efficient and self-motivated interns.  We are looking for individuals who are ​flexible, can adapt, innovate and thrive in a fast paced, multi-faceted and challenging industry.  A sense of humor is vital. 
• Job duties require lifting and carrying of loads weighing up to ## pounds over rough or uneven surfaces.
• Valid Food Worker Card, obtainable through the Division of Environmental Health from https://dec.alaska.gov/eh/fss/food-worker-card.
• Computer skills to handle data entry of inventory, printing of invoices and shipping labels are helpful but training will be provided.
• Communication skills to voice concerns, provide ideas for improving workflows and to support agritourism events and interaction with the public at the Homer Farmer’s Market desired.
• Prior experience working on a farm is a plus, but not required.

Job Description: 

The goal of the internship is to expose students to a range of activities from farming to product distribution, agritourism, value added product development and marketing.  Duties can be adjusted based on interest but assistance in all areas is needed.

• Peony Farming Duties: (Multiple locations, but primarily on host farm)
• Shadow farmers/farm managers in the field or high tunnel greenhouses to assist in cultivating flowers.  Maintenance tasks to include help monitoring soil moisture, assistance with irrigation/fertigation systems, installation of plant support to produce straight marketable stems, field sanitation, weeding, scouting for disease, participation in harvest crew to include learning queues for cutting different varieties of flowers, quality control, how to grade and process flowers for inventory and sale.
• Pack house Duties: (Located at 1435 Lakeshore Drive)
• Provide assistance to pack house manager to fulfill orders.  This may include printing orders, creating consumer bunches of flowers for local markets, staging boxes of fresh flowers/merchandise for out of state shipping, in-state shipments, local deliveries and pickups. 
• Assist with inventory tracking of fresh cut flowers. 
• Assist with packhouse sanitation as needed to include sweeping, wiping surfaces, stacking flower crates, moving trash to the dumpster.
• Agritourism events and local market support as needed (Multiple Locations) 
• Assist with co-op sponsored events during Homer’s 6th annual Peony Celebration.  These will include farms tours, providing direction to “farmer for a day” volunteers, assistance with the bouquet bar and Homer Farmers Market booth as needed. Greet and assist visitors with questions as needed (Smile 😊)
• Help set up event booth to create attractive, abundant displays of merchandise and fresh peonies. 
• Assist in processing sales with Shopify Point of Sale (POS) for local sales of flowers and merchandise.

 

Systems and Hardware Used:

• Shopify online store and Point of Sale 
• Shippo and shipping label printer
• UPS, USPS, and FedEx online shipping sites
• Laser printer
• Adobe, Canva
• Google Drive, Gmail and Google Sheets

This internship can prepare you for job roles in the following industries:

• Forester and Conservation Scientist
• Logistician
• Marketing Manager
• Project Manager
• Purchasing, Merchandising, and Procurement Agents
• Soil and Plant Scientists
• Supply Chain Manager
• Agricultural Engineer

 

Application Requirements:

• Please submit the following via email to AlaskaBeautyPeony@gmail.com 
• Resume
• Cover Letter

Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension/Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station/OneTree Alaska - Boreal Forest Education and Research Internship

• Job Title: Boreal Forest Education and Research Internship
• Organization: Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension/Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station/OneTree Alaska
• Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
• Interns Needed: 1-3
• About OneTree Alaska: OneTree Alaska is an integrated education-research community collaborative project focused on boreal forest education, citizen science, and forest product development.
• Job Summary: This internship involves working in the OneTree Alaska STEAM Studio and the Generation OneTree Long-term Ecological Monitoring plot to develop phenology and nature journaling protocols, and organize archival data on birch tree growth.
• Responsibilities:
• Developing phenology and Grinnell System of Nature Journaling protocols.
• Organizing archival data on birch tree growth and development.
• Supporting the Tree Steward program.
• Interdisciplinary research.
• Qualifications:
• Interest in interdisciplinary studies/research.
• GPA  3.0+ 
• Strong candidates: UAF students in Biology, Natural Resources Management and Sustainability, and Art.
• Creative and process oriented.
• Hours: 24-40 hours per week.
• Days: 4-5 days per week, with potential flexibility.
• Travel: No travel required.
• Background Check: FERPA training recommended for UAF students.
• Benefits:
• Extensive networking opportunities.
• Potential follow-on employment opportunities.
• Experience with leadership programs.
• Work Location: In-person (STEAM Studio and T-field research plot), with potential hybrid flexibility.
• Address: OneTree STEAM Studio, Lola Tilly Commons Building Suite 230, 1850 Tanana Loop.
• Contact: Jan Dawe at jcdawe@alaska.edu or Jay Clapeck at jjclapeck@alaska.edu

Institute of Agriculture Natural Resources and Extension/Invasive Plants - Integrated Pest Management Internship

• Job Title: Integrated Pest Management Internship
• Organization: Institute of Agriculture Natural Resources and Extension/Invasive Plants
• Location: Anchorage, Palmer, and Fairbanks, Alaska.
• Interns Needed: 1-4
• About IANRE Invasive Plants: Our team develops integrated pest management solutions through laboratory and field work, addressing invasive species, biocontrol, and pesticide impacts.
• Job Summary: This internship involves assisting with laboratory experiments on pesticide fate and field studies on pest management strategies.
• Responsibilities:
• Setting up and running laboratory experiments.
• Sample preparation and analysis.
• Field work, including planting, insect sampling, and plot maintenance.
• Data collection.
• Qualifications:
• Experience in chemistry lab work and/or field work is ideal.
• Hours: 20-40 hours per week.
• Days: 5 days per week.
• Time: Summer (lab position may extend to Fall and Spring).
• Travel: Potential for in-state travel.
• Background Check: None listed.
• Benefits:
• Experience with scientific studies and controlled experiments.
• Exposure to emerging technologies like biochar.
• Experience with classical pest management techniques.
• Work Location: In-person.
• Address: 219 E International Airport Road Suite 100A.
• Contact: Gino Graziano at gagraziano@alaska.edu or Jay Clapeck at jjclapeck@alaska.edu