Hiring: Student Farm Ecological Garden Lead

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.

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About the Ecological Garden

The Ecological Garden is a place for students to learn about ecological horticulture. We learn and practice resilient, community-scale food production, 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 collaborating with students and faculty on culturally important crops, to working with partners on Native California plant stewardship and use, 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. 

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?
• 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
• Native California plants and partnerships with Indigenous communities on and beyond campus. 
• Culturally sustaining plants, 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

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.

Learn more about the position and requirements here, or email Colin Dixon with questions.