Ecological Garden Program Lead

UC Davis Student Farm; Davis (CA); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

The UC Davis Student Farm is seeking an Ecological Garden Lead to guide and support students as they cultivate food, explore ecological horticulture, and contribute to a resilient campus landscape.

You will mentor interns, employees, and volunteers, and collaborate on Native California plant projects, herb gardening, and education initiatives, building an inclusive community focused on learning and wellbeing.

Qualifications

• Passion for teaching and mentoring learners and leaders.
• Experience managing fluid human and ecological systems.
• Ability to welcome and learn with diverse groups and foster inclusivity.
• Excitement to share deep knowledge of the natural world.

Responsibilities

• Guide and support students as they learn in the garden.
• Collaborate with student leaders, interns, employees, and volunteers.
• Foster an inclusive community focused on sustainable food systems.
• Help plan activities like Flower Project and Kids in the Garden.

Skills

Teaching & mentoring

Troubleshooting

Systems management

Group facilitation

Knowledge sharing

Curiosity about plants

Vision for equitable farms

Job description

This is one of the most dynamic and meaningful roles on the Student Farm. The lead of the Ecological Garden (EG) is the ideal position for someone who cares deeply about both plants and people, and is excited to work in a community committed to sustaining the wellbeing of both.

About the Ecological Garden

The Ecological Garden is a place for students to learn about ecological horticulture. We learn and practice resilient, community-scale agricultural systems, with a focus on ecologically and culturally sustaining plants and landscapes. This spans a wide range of activities, from managing annual vegetable beds and perennial fruit trees, to working with partners on Native California plant stewardship and use, to collaborating with students and faculty on culturally important crops, to guiding decisions about what medicinal and culinary herbs to squeeze into the space, and much more. Student leaders – interns, employees, and volunteers – are central to decision-making and work in all of these. The EG is also home to two important projects: the Flower Project (cut flower production and sales) and Kids in the Garden (K-12 farm & garden education). Across all of these, the EG Lead’s job is to guide and support students as they learn in the space, use it as a space to try out new ideas for what food and land should be, and build community here.

The EG is also a vital place for gathering, restoration, and reflection – not only for the Student Farm, but for many on our campus and in our community. It is a place to find culinary herbs remembered from home (mint, papalo, rau ram, ginger, scent leaf, and more), to observe caterpillars, to sit under the protection of a giant fig tree, and to gather for team meetings, tea parties, and community meals.

Alongside students’ questions and visions for the future of agriculture, your interests, experiences, and values will shape what the garden, and your role, become.

Some of the things you will be learning with students about:

• Community-scale food production – how do we grow food in and for our communities? How can households, gardens, and other small places play big roles in community and cultural resilience?
• Native California plants and partnerships with Indigenous communities on and beyond campus.
• Ecological interactions between plants and animals (including humans), above and in the soil.
• Flower production for ecological and economic health of small and organic farms
• Culturally sustaining plants and the practices and people around them, such as those in our African Diaspora, ChiLat, Hmong Herb, and Queer Flower Beds, and including plants for medicine, herbs, and dye.
• Farm & Garden Education – experiences that shape people’s relationship to food, plants and land, at any age

Some of the things you bring:

• Passion for teaching and mentoring learners and leaders interested in the new possibilities for the future of food systems and landscapes.
• Ability to troubleshoot problems – from broken irrigation controllers, to squirrel proofing strategies, to new challenges that students and our community confront
• Experience managing fluid human and ecological systems, like farms, community food projects, garden-based organizations, and public nurseries
• Ability to welcome and learn with groups that bring wide ranging interests, and to foster an environment that is energetic and inclusive – able to see and put to use a broad range of experiences and knowledges, and able to build trust with partners.
• Excitement to share deep knowledge of and love for the natural world, alongside comfort not knowing and a willingness to listen and be curious
• Curiosity about the many ways humans use and develop relationships with plants, such as through dyeing, medicine
• Your own vision for what more equitable and just farms and food systems look like and how we get there.

This is a career staff position, available at 75%-100% FTE, depending on preference of the candidate.