Volunteer Opportunities
The Intervale Center has a variety of ways for you to get involved. Click the appropriate link to learn more!
General Volunteers
Volunteers are what make the Intervale a thriving, educational place and we are always grateful for a new member of the team. From landscaping to weekly tours to seed collection to gardening with kids to helping administrate projects, whatever your interests, we have a job for you.
Healthy City Volunteers
*NEW* Read about volunteer opportunities at Healthy City here.
Intervale Conservation Nursery Volunteers
The Nursery is in need of help with planting, weeding, and watering in our greenhouse and field. Learn about plant propagation and maintenance while helping the Nursery to grow trees for streambank restoration projects.
Contact Leah Szafranski for details.
Academic Year Internships
An in-depth experience with educational goals and objectives. Interns are required to receive academic credit and be able to commit to working 4 hours a week for an academic semester. Read Internship Guidelines and possible internship topics here.
Summer Internships
Agricultural Development Services (ADS)
Outreach Intern
ADS seeks a competent, curious and flexible person to serve as this summer’s Outreach Intern. Tasks will include assisting ADS and Development staff in planning and executing several Thursdays at the Intervale events, helping to implement a searchable online recipe database for localvore-inspired cooking and providing logistical support for the New Farms for New Americans project and a host of other critical administrative and outreach tasks as assigned. Comfort with Microsoft Office programs, a winning attitude and reliable transportation are musts. College credit required. A commitment of 8 hours or more a week for 8-10 weeks preferred.
Please send a cover letter and resume to Mandy Davis.
Intervale Conservation Nursery (ICN)
For inquiries about all ICN Internships please contact Andrea Tursini.
*NEW* Nursery Technician Internship:
The Intervale Conservation Nursery is seeking a student intern to assist the Nursery staff with collection, propagation and maintenance of native woody trees and shrubs. This field-based position is a great way to learn about native plant
communities, greenhouse propagation, and riparian restoration.
This is an unpaid, part time internship, 20 hours per week, starting immediately and continuing through August 15th, 2008. Students are required to receive academic credit for their time at the Nursery and our staff is happy to work with students to facilitate that process.
For more information about the requirements and qualifications see the annoucement!
Removal of Exotic Invasives at the Intervale:
The Intervale land is burdened with a wide variety of invasive species including Japanese knotweed, garlic mustard, honeysuckle, and buckthorn. The Intervale Center, as steward of the Intervale land, would like to work with an intern to research control methods that meet organic standards.
The student would be responsible for researching control methods and developing a plan for implementation. Ideally, the student would coordinate volunteer work days to implement the control plan. Students can focus on one or more of the species present here.
This project has the potential to be an undergraduate thesis. Please contact us for more information.
Experimental Nursery Practices:
The Intervale Conservation Nursery is always interested in new ways of propagating species that we grow, in trialing different varieties of potting soil, in starting a softwood cutting program, etc. In other words, there many new things we would like to experiment with that we don’t have the time to pursue entirely on our own.
Students would have the opportunity to work with ICN to identify a new technique to experiment with. Students will then design trials or experiments to test the new techniques and their ability to be integrated into our protocols. This requires excellent attention to detail and experience in designing research projects. Upper level students are especially encouraged to apply for this internship.
Plant Identification:
There are several species of plants that the Nursery would like to grow that are very challenging to identify in the field. For example, high bush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) is difficult to tell from European Cranberry (Viburnum opulus), especially in the field. ICN would like to offer high bush cranberry species to our customers but need reliable methods of identification in the field before we can proceed. An intern will have the opportunity to consult with plant specialists to develop reliable methodology for identification.
A dendrology course or demonstrated proficiency is a pre-requisite for this internship.
Scouting for Cutting and Seed Collection Locations:
The Intervale Conservation Nursery has one intern every semester to work on scouting throughout northern Vermont for healthy populations of the trees and shrubs we grow. From these sites, we collect seeds and cuttings for propagation. Interns identify the sites in the landscape, go to town halls and utilize their maps and grand lists to identify landowners, and then contact landowners to seek permission for collection.
A Dendrology course is a prerequisite for this internship or demonstration of excellent plant identification skills, and students must be able to accurately and articulately represent the Nursery to the general public.
Monitoring of Success of Past Riparian Planting Projects:
The Intervale Conservation Nursery has been involved in multiple riparian buffer and stormwater management planting projects. These projects are implemented in cooperation with other agencies. The missing piece is follow up monitoring to track the effectiveness of plant protection materials, the mortality rate of ICN plants over time, and other information as needed on a case by case basis. This intern will work cooperatively with US Partners for Fish and Wildlife and the Conservation Nursery.
The intern must have taken Dendrology or must be able to prove proficiency with identifying common riparian trees and shrubs. This intern must also be willing to work in the field alone and provide their own transportation.
This internship will be paid within the range of $10-12.00 per hour.
Workshop Series Coordination:
The Nursery annually holds a series of workshops related to plant propagation and tree identification. Interns can work with ICN staff to develop new workshops, advertise them to appropriate audiences, and implement the workshops.
Grant Research and Writing:
Non-profit organizations often get much of their funding from grant-making organizations. The application process for these funds and the research that goes into identifying an appropriate match with grantors are valuable skills for any young professional to have. Interns will have the opportunity to work either with ICN staff or Intervale Center Development staff to develop their skills at grant writing.