PLS 4941
STUDENTS
HOME / ARE YOU A SUPERVISOR? / PODCAST
Practical Work Experience FAQs
- Syllabus
-
Find Work Experience Opportunities
Work experience opportunities range from the greenhouse, farm, and landscape operations to university and private industry research labs, from nonprofit organizations and extension offices to botanical gardens and government agencies and everything in between. It is not our policy to approve work experiences with family members as employees, supervisors, or business owners. While most students find paid work to be the best option you are not required to find paid experience, and many students volunteer.
First place to look for opportunities: your email!
Jobs and other opportunities go out regularly to Plant Science student email lists, if you don't receive them contact the Plant Science Major advisor.
When you join professional societies or trade organizations (ASHS, FNGLA, APGA, IPPS, etc) they will often post and email opportunities directly or via newsletter updates, you'll also find posts via notifications from social media like LinkedIn, FB, X (Twitter), if you're following certain accounts or groups, etc.Second place to look: your network! This is your daily contacts, classmates, faculty, friends, mutuals on the socials, people you met at conferences or competitions, supervisors and coworkers past and present, etc. You don't necessarily need to wear a shirt that says you're looking for work experience or post a "hey hire me" status update, but that's exactly what you can do in a subtle, professional way.
Talk to people about the work they do and how they got where they are, ask how they hire help if that's part of what they do, let them know if you're interested in learning more about their work (whether it's research in a lab or installing irrigation lines).
Talk to other students about places they've worked, use faculty office hours to talk with your professors about work experience opportunities (and take notes!).
Update your resume/cv and/or professional profile/s and have them ready to share along with your contact information if an opportunity presents itself.
Stay curious and speak up! Don't hesitate to follow up on casual conversations with a polite but friendly email or text if contact information was shared or readily available, or another conversation later if it's appropriate.
Listen to podcasts, watch videos, read newsletters, check out the excellent CALS, UF and other resources below.
Here's a non-exhaustive, dynamic list of work experience databases, programs, and general listings. Please inbox Erin if you'd like to see any particular area or have an addition.Databases with position postings and resources for more information:
- Gator CareerLink
- Florida NurseryGrowers and Landscape Association (FNGLA) Job Board
- American Society for Horticultural Science Career Center
- North American Association for Environmental Education
- American Phytopathological Society (APS)
- American Public Gardens Association (APGA)-filter job search for internships
- Landscape Industry Careers (via NALP) and Apprenticeships
- Seed Your Future Internship information
Specific Work Experience/Internship Program Listings (in progress, these are places our students have worked or that have posted opportunities, may or may not be listed in databases above)
- Carnegie Summer Internship in Plant Biology
- Costa Farms Internships
- Danforth Science Center Research Internship
- Longwood Gardens: U.S. students, International students
- Ruppert Landscape
- UF Extension Internships
- UF Research Internships
- UF Study Abroad Internships
- Yellowstone Landscape
Scholarships, Contests, Awards, etc:
- Batson Scholarship: contact the Plant Science Program advisor for details!
- ACS Internship Poster Contest
- American Floral Endowment Floriculture Internships and Scholarships
- Seed Your Future Scholarships
- UF Global Learning Opportunities (International Scholars, Fulbright, etc)
- UF Scholars Programs
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOSTING A STUDENT FOR A PRACTICAL WORK EXPERIENCE OPPORTUNITY AND IF YOU WISH TO POST AN OPPORTUNITY ON OUR LIST PLEASE GO HERE: EMPLOYER INFORMATION
Workplace Business Name, Researcher Name Location Active Learning Program, Community Outreach for Engineering Service Learning Collaboration internship Gainesville, FL Animal Welfare Institute Washington, DC Ball Horticultural Company Chicago, IL Boozer Farms Thorsby, AL Corteva Agriscience Lubbock, TX Costa Farms Miami, FL Emerald Coast Growers Niceville, FL Excelsa Gardens Loxahatchee, FL Fast Growing Trees South Carolina Fat Beet Farm Tampa, FL Florida Department of AG Gainesville, FL Golden Hour Hemp Waldo, FL Green River Preserve, Anne Izard Cedar Mountain, NC Grow Hub Gainesville, FL Haile Plantation Golf & Country Club Gainesville, FL Kehe Wholesale Food Distributor Ft Lauderdale, FL Lacerta Therapeutics, Darrin Falk Alachua, FL MTDH LLC Gainesville, FL Nevada Conservation Corps-Great Basin Institute Reno, NV Plant View Nursery Williston, FL Pleasant View Gardens Loudon, NH Speedling, inc Ruskin, FL Sunbay Apartments Gainesville, FL The Family Garden Gainesville, FL UF IFAS AGR CSRA Dr. Diane Rowland UF Gainesville UF IFAS Agronomy CSRA Dr. Chris Wilson and James Estrada Research Project UF Gainesville UF IFAS Agronomy Jianping Wang UF Gainesville UF IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, Dr. Candace Prince UF Gainesville UF IFAS Center for Stress Resilient Agriculture, Dr. Rowland UF Gainesville UF College of Pharmacy, Erin Berthold UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH - Gómez Lab, Dr. Celina Gómez UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH Club UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH Gomez Lab UF Gainesville UF IFAS HOS Dr. Lorenzo Rossi Indian River Research and Education Center UF IRREC UF IFAS AGR Wang lab, Jianping Wang UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH Dr. David Clark UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH Dr. Paul Fisher UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH Dr. Swathi Nadakuduti UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH Klein Arboriculture Laboratory UF Gainesville UF IFAS ENH Volatiles Lab, Thomas Colquhoun UF Gainesville UF IFAS HOS Zhao Lab, UF Gainesville UF IFAS HOS, Mark Settles Lab UF Gainesville UF IFAS Plant Diagnosis Center, Dr. Carrie Harmon UF Gainesville UF IFAS PLP UF Gainesville UF IFAS PLP and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Erica Goss UF Gainesville UF IFAS PLP and Emergina Pathogens Institute, Dr. Goss UF Gainesville UF IFAS PLP Dr. Brantlee Spakes-Richter UF Gainesville UF IFAS Pollinator Ecology and Conservation Lab, Dr. Mallinger lab UF Gainesville UF IFAS Soil and Water Sciences, Gabriel Maltais-Landry UF Gainesville UF IFAS Soil Fertility Plant Nutrition UF Gainesville UF IFAS/CoM Wilmot Gardens UF Gainesville UF IFAS PLP Dr. Liliana Cano UF IRREC UF Institute on Aging, Dept. of Aging and Geriatric Research, PI Dr. Manini UF Gainesville UF IFAS PLP Martins Lab and Greenhouse, Samuel Martins UF Gainesville UF Soltis Lab, Makenzie Mabry UF Gainesville UF-IFAS NFREC Suwannee Valley Live Oak, FL UF/IFAS AGR Wang Lab UF Gainesville UF IFAS HOS Dr. Vance Whitaker UF GCREC UGA Department of Plant Pathology Dr. Robert Kemerait Tifton, GA Yellowstone Landscape Bunnell, FL Yellowstone Landscape Company Durham, NC -
Work Experience Approval Form
-
Student Self Evaluation Form
-
Student Internship Shared Experiences
Candice Prince
I worked for Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Every day is different as an intern at the Preserve. You might be working in their native plant nursery one day, then the next day build trails and manage the property, or run educational programs for children. I was able to acquire a great deal of experience in invasive plant removal, nursery operations, and public speaking. One of the best parts of the summer was working with the Preserve staff. They are all very passionate about native plant preservation, and I learned so much from interacting with them. There is a strong family atmosphere at the Preserve, and they do a great job of making interns feel welcomed.
Daniel Greenwell
I had a phenomenal experience interning at Longwood Gardens. As the outdoor display intern, I would rotate between the three main sections of the 1,000-acre display garden. One of the sections had a focus on woody and perennial plants, one section had a focus on vegetables and trial plants, and one section had an emphasis on annuals and natives. By rotating through all of these sections for a whole year I gained valuable experience on all fronts of outdoor horticulture.
There were three projects that were very memorable and educational to me – sheering the large geometric topiaries, planting the spring bulb display, and planting the large summer annual display. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and would recommend it to anyone else.