Description
Interns are assigned to a particular area within the arboretum. All participate in regularly scheduled educational programs and field trips, work on independent projects that benefit the arboretum, and are supervised by the arboretum's professional staff. Compensation for the 2010 summer internships is approx. $13.03/hr. The work week for most interns is Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. College credit may be arranged by the student and is encouraged.

Qualifications
Applicants need to have either completed course work or have acquired practical experience in horticulture or a related field. Basic gardening or laboratory skills, interest in plants, and the ability to work independently are very important.

Duties & Working Conditions
Interns will be responsible for the standard duties of working in a public garden. Examples include assisting in all aspects of garden maintenance and development, including greenhouse work, potted plant maintenance, propagation, planting, watering, weeding, mowing, and pest management. Interns will also assist with the accurate labeling of plants and answering visitors’ questions. Outdoor internships may involve heavy lifting and exposure to extreme heat and humidity.

The 2010 summer intern positions will be posted late Fall/early Winter. Please contact the Internship Office if you have any questions (see contact info below). What follows are examples of the usual summer horticulture internships.

Dogwood Collection: The Dogwood collection features more than 100 exceptional varieties and species of Cornus in a naturalistic setting. In this internship, you will assist in all aspects of garden maintenance and development, including watering, weeding, planting, and fertilizing.

Conifer Collection: The conifer collection, including the Gotelli Dwarf and Slow-Growing Conifer Collection and the Watnong Collection of Dwarf Pines, comprises approximately twenty acres of manicured gardens. In this internship, you will assist in the maintenance of the collection, including planting, weeding, watering, pruning, and propagation.

Native Plant Collection: The Fern Valley Native Plant Collection features several habitats of the Eastern United States and comprises seven acres of natural woodland and meadow. In this internship, you will assist in the maintenance of the collection, including planting, weeding, watering, pruning, and propagation. Interest in North American native plants is useful.

Introduction Garden: The plantings around the Administration Building include many cultivars that the US National Arboretum has introduced to the nursery trade. This area is also meant to serve as an area to display new plants to the public. This garden is intensely planted with annuals and tropicals, both in the ground and in containers. It also includes a water feature with a large collection of aquatic plants. In this internship, you will assist in with the installation of the annual display and with the maintenance of the area, including weeding, watering, and pruning.

Flowering Tree Walk: Recently installed, the Flowering Tree Walk is the arboretum’s newest feature. It is the first phase in an eventual plan to link several of the arboretum’s collections with a pedestrian walkway. New to the collection are one hundred trees of all different varieties. In this internship, you will assist with the establishment of these new trees by watering, weeding, pruning, and tracking their progress.

Shrub Breeding: The development of new landscape plants for the American public is an integral part of the arboretum’s mission and is conducted by the Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit. In this internship, you will gain hands-on experience in plant breeding research by assisting in plant propagation from cuttings and seeds; designing, preparing, and planting research plots; performing pollinations; and assisting with various gardening tasks such as potting, watering, and weeding. An interest in ornamental horticulture, plant breeding, and/or plant physiology is helpful.

Tree Breeding: The U.S. National Arboretum maintains an active urban tree breeding program focused on the introduction of superior disease and pest tolerant ornamental trees for urban landscapes. Our program encompasses all aspects of tree improvement, from initial evaluation of new or under-utilized species, performing controlled-pollinations and crossing experiments, hybrid verification using molecular markers, disease and insect screening studies, to propagation and distribution of new selections. The program has initiated comprehensive breeding programs in a number of genera, including: Catalpa, Chilopsis, Chionanthus, Nyssa, and Tsuga. The intern will contribute to breeding studies in parts of all genera, or have the opportunity to focus on one genus of interest depending on the interests and skills of the intern. Interns will assist in all aspects of the program, with the ability to focus on a specific project if desired. Interests in basic science and woody ornamental plants are highly desired.

Selective Service System:
Males over age 18 who were born after December 31, 1959, must have registered with the Selective Service System (or have an exemption) to be eligible for Federal employment.

Employment of Noncitizens In Non-Permanent Excepted Service Positions:
For information on the eligibility of noncitizens for temporary internships, see http://www.afm.ars.usda.gov/hrd/topicsaz.htm#n.

EEO Policy Statement: The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor.