Student Job Opportunity: Urban Tree Stewardship Internship Co-Coordinator

Help coordinate the care and establishment of the next generation of campus trees with a dynamic team of expert staff, student employees, and interns as an Internship Co-Coordinator for the Arboretum and Public Garden's Learning by Leading™ Urban Tree Stewardship team.

Position Overview

The Internship Co-Coordinator is a part-time, paid, student staff member of the Arboretum and Public Garden. This position has two primary responsibilities: 

1. Hands-on stewardship of trees in the Arboretum nursery and campus landscape 
2. Coordination and leadership of the Urban Tree Stewardship Learning by Leading™ Internship, which involves approximately 8-10 unpaid interns during the academic year. 

Read more about the Urban Tree Stewardship internship. 

Summer 2026: Care and management of trees in the Arboretum nursery and campus landscape. Internship planning and intern recruitment in collaboration with staff mentors and a fellow internship co-coordinator.

Fall 2026 to spring 2027: Develop, implement and lead the Urban Tree Stewardship Internship using the Learning by Leading™ framework in collaboration with staff mentor and a fellow internship co-coordinator.

Position Description

This position will work under the mentorship of the Director of GATEways Horticulture and Teaching Gardens and with a fellow co-coordinator. Together the co-coordinators will help develop, implement and lead the Urban Tree Stewardship internship using the Learning by Leading™ framework. This team will be responsible for growing and establishing a new generation of climate-ready trees to help ensure that UC Davis has a thriving, resilient urban forest for decades to come. The internship program will focus on propagating trees from seeds and cuttings, growing them in the nursery, planting them in the campus landscape, and monitoring and caring for them to give them a healthy start. The team will be integral to our climate adaptation and tree conservation projects, growing oaks and other trees from California, the Southwest US and around the world. 

The two co-coordinators hired for this position will help with the following:

• Lead collaborative planning and decision-making regarding development of the Urban Tree Stewardship curriculum, activities, events, projects, and program evaluation.
• Create appropriate activities that build leadership while meeting campus urban forestry goals.
• Organize student internship outreach, recruitment, selection, and community building activities.
• Mentor, guide, teach and supervise students in advancing their knowledge and skills in applied tree conservation, nursery management, plant propagation and arboriculture. Support students’ academic and professional growth.
• Manage administrative duties such as email communications, material and supply maintenance, and recordkeeping.
• Maintain communication between Urban Tree Stewardship interns, other community service organizations, and Arboretum staff.
• Document and organize program activities, timelines, schedules, action plans, grant proposals, and educational materials.
• Steward and establish care of young trees as well as care of mature trees.
• Perform a variety of maintenance tasks, such as tree planting, watering, mulching, staking, weeding, and pruning.
• Assist in nursery production and management of trees for research and campus plantings.
• Keep accurate and detailed records in various databases and mapping systems to track propagation, planting, monitoring, and tree care.

Position Details

• Anticipated Start Date: Mid-June
• Salary: $17.40

Time commitment

This position is expected to work 10 to 15 hours per week during the academic year and commit to working through at least June 2027. In Summer of 2026, the position will focus on training and tree care and will increase to 20 to 25 hours per week. The position will build the curriculum for the internship for 8 to 10 interns starting in Fall 2026 and will return to 10 to 15 hour per week.

Apply via Google Forms by May 4, 2026

Qualifications

• Experience and/or coursework in applied best practices in sustainable horticulture and environmental science, such as propagation, nursery management, arboriculture, urban forestry, plant conservation, field work, and plant identification.
• Must have a passion for trees and enthusiasm for learning about tree propagation and young tree care.
• Leadership skills to recruit, manage, teach and motivate student interns and volunteers.
• Verbal/written communication and interpersonal skills to communicate and interact with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills to provide accurate and timely feedback, identify and resolve conflicts, determine appropriate methods of communication for diverse groups, and to build an effective team environment.
• Organizational skills to establish priorities and handle multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Organizational ability necessary to organize projects into tasks that students can successfully undertake.
• Experience in project management.
• Ability to effectively serve as both a member and leader of work teams.
• Ability to work independently without direct supervision to follow through on assignments and complex projects and events.
• Knowledge of Learning by Leading program and Arboretum and Public Garden landscapes and programs is desirable.
• Must be able to work outdoors in all weather conditions including rain, cold, and heat.
• Must have a California Driver’s License.

Job Expectations

• Read, follow and model the UC Davis Principles of Community.
• Exhibit strong professional ethics and accountability.
• Lead by example and foster leadership and teamwork.
• Support and enhance fundraising activities and community relations.
• Be sensitive with/and understand complex relationships between individuals and organizations and the University and use good judgment in resolving misunderstandings on issues impacting the Arboretum and Public Garden and the University.
• Maintain a strong commitment to high quality customer service.
• Understand the importance of cultivating relationships within and outside of the organization to represent the Arboretum and Public Garden with a high degree of professionalism and integrity; seek to accomplish goals with measurable results and empower others to do the same; create a vision of achievement.

Apply via Google Forms by May 4, 2026

Questions?

Questions about the position can be addressed to Emily Griswold at [email protected].