Botany Department Internships

The two Botany Department internships are part of the Morris Arboretum internship program which includes 8 positions overall. Each internship is for a period of one year beginning in mid-June and carries graduate credit at the University of Pennsylvania. All interns participate in weekly classes, seminars, and field trips and each completes an independent study project. Interns receive wages and university benefits packages for a 40 hour week.

All Morris Arboretum interns are required to complete a core curriculum designed to broaden their educational experience. The curriculum consists of seminars and practical sessions offered each week and supplemented by monthly field trips to gardens, arboreta, nurseries, or natural areas. Practical sessions include topics as diverse as tree pruning and planting, garden interpretation, landscape design, resume writing, and plant identification.

The typical Botany Department intern has completed an undergraduate degree in botany, forestry, biology, or horticulture and is interested in, but not quite ready for, graduate school.

Pennsylvania Flora Internship

This position is shared with the Botany Department of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The intern performs curatorial duties in the herbarium of the Academy (PH, PENN), one of the world's largest and most important plant collections, under the supervision of Drs. Lucinda McDade and Richard M. McCourt. At the Morris Arboretum the intern is under the supervision of Drs. Timothy A. Block and Ann F. Rhoads. The independent research project of the Pennsylvania Flora Intern must be on some aspect of the flora of Pennsylvania. Please see our research and activities page by following the link at left.

Minimum qualifications: An undergraduate degree in biology with coursework in botany.

Plant Protection Internship

This intern serves as an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) scout and resource person for the management of the health of the living collection of the Morris Arboretum. Related projects include establishing threshold levels for specific plant pests and evaluating the effectiveness of control measures. The intern also oversees the daily operation of the Plant Clinic, providing diagnostic services to the public about horticultural problems. This internship is endowed by the John J. Willaman and Martha Haas Valentine Memorial Fund.

Minimum qualifications: Background in horticulture or plant science; coursework in entomology, mycology, and plant pathology desirable.

Application procedure
Submit a letter indicating how this program can help you attain your goals and specify for which position you are applying. Please include the following:

Academic transcripts
Three letters of recommendation
Resume

Materials must be received by February 15th of each year for internships that begin that June.

Mail to:
Jan McFarlan, Internship Coordinator
Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
100 Northwestern Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118