Native Habitat Garden Internship

2025 Native Habitat Garden Internship

Bedford Audubon is offering a ten-week paid internship opportunity in native habitat garden management, located at their operations center, Bylane Farm in Katonah, New York. The Society is seeking a rising college senior or graduate student to fill this position. The ideal candidate is pursuing a degree in botany, horticulture, landscape architecture or design, or similar environmental fields. The Summer Garden Intern will work in the Leon Levy Native Habitat Garden at Bedford Audubon’s Bylane Farm in Katonah, New York.

About the Leon Levy Native Habitat Garden at Bedford Audubon

The Garden is a cornerstone of Bedford Audubon’s native plant and pollinator program. First installed in 2012 with a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, its purpose has always been dual in nature. First, it provides a critical habitat for birds, butterflies, and other beneficial wildlife at Bylane Farm. Second, it educates and engages our members and the public on the use of native plants to create bird-friendly and environmentally healthy yards and neighborhoods. The concept of bird-friendly communities and neighborhood-level conservation has emerged as a critical element to protect biodiversity and the health of human communities.

In 2023, with a generous new grant in hand (again, from Leon Levy Foundation), Bedford Audubon began to substantially expand our existing garden. Alongside increased plantings we deepened the concept of a habitat garden to go beyond that of a showcase for native plants. We want to emphasize the life supporting functions – food, shelter, water – that the garden provides for birds and other wildlife. We also want to more deeply educate visitors on what we’ve planted, why we planted, and ultimately inspire visitors to replicate our methodology in their own gardens and properties. These activities strongly fit into Bedford Audubon’s mission to grow and nurture a community that values the conservation of birds and their habitats.

Objectives of the Internship:

Our Garden Intern will play a central part in helping us fulfill the objectives of our habitat garden program. The successful candidate will divide his/her time between gardening tasks, managing garden volunteers, and communicating and educating people on the garden and its teachings. They will accomplish the latter task through creating and distributing brochures, general informational material, and social media posts, assisting in conducting garden tours, and creating and helping conduct presentations and workshops.

Core Responsibilities:

The intern’s core responsibilities for the 2025 season will include the following:

Help with any new garden installation requirements including installation of new signage, trellises, a water feature installation, entrance gate improvements and walking path improvements. This summer, we will introduce multiple new plants, along with dividing and transplanting existing ones to enhance the garden’s growth and diversity.
Prepare the garden beds for their first spring opening and undertake weekly maintenance through the summer:

Remove dead stalks and other deceased plant growth
Identify and replace recurring invasive growths
Identify and replace non-thriving plantings
Prune select bushes and shrubs
Weed the ground and reapply mulch
Regularly water all plants
Replenish bird feeders and check on water feature operation
Learn and maintain the procedures and content for a standardized walking tour of the new garden, aligned with our habitat education and species identification
Train and assist garden volunteers to lead independent tours based on these procedures and content
Work on maintaining current, and adding new where appropriate, educational species signs and their accompanying website links and write-ups.
Create garden publicity materials and engage in active social media posting on garden activities
Continue to fine-tune the garden and inspire others to make their landscape more bird-friendly
Create additional garden educational material or programs, e.g. native garden overview brochure, a user friendly garden plan, focused on lectures or workshops
Write/create a final internship report or presentation

Required Skills & Qualities:

The ideal candidate is an enthusiastic individual with a passion for horticulture, natural resources, and/or related environmental fields. The person must also be a college senior or graduate student pursuing an academic degree in a related field. The candidate should possess some native plant identification skills, experience with horticultural practices, and excellent written and verbal communication skills. Experience in nature interpretation is desirable, but most important would be a cheerful attitude and approach to work in a public setting.
The candidate should be self-motivated and able to work successfully independently as well as in a supportive team atmosphere. The candidate should be in good physical condition and willing to work outside for extended periods and in Bedford Audubon’s casual yet professional office environment. Further, the candidate should be able to withstand the physical rigors of the job, including carrying garden equipment and supplies, as well as being able to work outside for extended periods in all kinds of summer weather conditions. Candidates should hold a valid driver’s license and have personal transportation.

Details:

Dates: 10-weeks from late May – Early August (this can be flexible depending on the successful candidate’s personal schedule: please include any date restrictions in your cover letter.)

Time Commitment: Approximately 30-35 hours per week, 10 weeks minimum

Compensation $4,500 total stipend paid out on a bi-monthly basis

Housing: We offer voluntary housing at Bylane Farm. Please inquire for details.

Location: Bylane Farm (35 Todd Road, Katonah, New York, 10536)

To Apply:

Please email a cover letter, résumé, and two references to John Hannan, Board President at jhannan@bedfordaudubon.org by April 11, 2025. The cover letter should describe interests and personal goals for the position. Please also include any academic or personal date restrictions.

Bedford Audubon’s mission is to grow and nurture a community that values the conservation of birds and their habitats. We do this by providing high-quality environmental education programs, research, and bird watching experiences. We proudly serve the communities of Armonk, Bedford, Brewster, Carmel, Katonah, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, North Salem, Patterson, Pound Ridge, Somers, and Yorktown.

Established in 1913, Bedford Audubon is one of the oldest Audubon chapters in the country.

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