Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden Internships (Stellenbosch, Western Cape) South Africa 2022

By | March 23, 2022
0 Comment

Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden Internships (Stellenbosch, Western Cape) South Africa 2022

 

APPLICATION DEADLINE:

27 March 2022.
Be sure to apply on or before this date - any applications submitted after this date are late and will NOT be accepted.
 

DETAILS ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME:

Location: Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Duration: 12 months
Start date: May 2022
Number of positions available: 3

Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden is offering 3 Internship opportunities to graduates with a love for plants and botany. The internship programme is partly funded by SAASTA or AgriSETA.
 

Duties and responsibilities of the internship programme – working in the garden:

  • Care and propagation of the collections, including daily tasks like watering and weeding.
  • Development of interpretation and communication materials.
  • Helping with conservation work & new displays, including plant collection and propagation.
  • Maintenance and updates of the collection database.
  • Management and interaction of the public including occasional shop duty and plant sales.
  • Hosting educational visitors – school groups, garden clubs, interest groups.
  • Various ad-hoc, hands on tasks associated with the garden and general horticultural practice.
  • Weekend duty of 2 days total per month.

 

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS NEEDED TO APPLY:

Before applying, please ensure that you meet ALL of the following minimum entry criteria – failure to satisfy all the requirements will result in your application being disqualified:

  • Preferably: completed an Honours, Masters, M Tech or similar graduate qualification in any of these fields: Botany, Conservation/ Ecology, Advanced Horticulture, or Science Communication
  • Must have experience in plant growing (even on a hobby basis)
  • Must have excellent knowledge of plant diversity and identification
  • Must have a love for plants
  • Must have good communication skills
  • Must have one of these strengths:
    • Specialist horticulture and growing: must be passion and interested in growing, propagation, and plant care, with a willingness to research and record protocols for our diverse collections ranging from tropical orchids to cape bulbs and everything in between.
    • Science communication: must be passionate about telling natural history stories that educate about our natural world and make the case for conservation. Ideally this means you have a conservation and ecological understanding of the Cape and SA landscape, and ability to create compelling content for interpretation materials, and online and print communication.
    • Threatened species work including helping with developing our strategy, and undertaking collection, propagation, collection management, population genetics, and display development.
    • Developing, interpreting, and caring for our growing useful and medicinal plant collection.

 

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE INTERNSHIP POSITION:

Applications must be submitted by email to: subg@sun.ac.za
State the following in your email subject line: "SUBG Intern Application"
 

Attach the following documents to your application:

  • Short covering letter motivating the following: how your interests, strengths and track record could support SUBG's focus areas
  • Updated Curriculum Vitae (with full contact details)
  • Copy of your completed qualification, if applicable

 

Please note:

  • Applications submitted before the closing date (27 March 2022) will receive preference.
  • Candidates may apply after the closing date and will then be considered for placements in early 2023.
  • Contracts will start once approved by SAASTA.

 

ABOUT THE COMPANY PROVIDING THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME:

The Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden (SUBG) is an academic and teaching botanical garden and is the oldest university botanical garden in South Africa. Situated in the historical center of Stellenbosch, the garden is home to a diverse range of flora from all over the World, but it specifically pursues Cape and SA conservation objectives and is a member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).

SUBG is also home to Katjiepiering Restaurant – a perfect place to rest and enjoy the Garden, as well as a shop that offers a wide range of local and regional products. Visitors can also purchase a range of beautiful plants cultivated in the Garden, at the Plant Sales area.
 

CONTACT THE PROGRAMME PROVIDER FOR QUERIES:

For any queries related to this internship programme, please contact Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden directly:
Telephone number: 021 808 3054
Email address: subg@sun.ac.za