United Plant Savers (UpS), a nonprofit based in Ohio, is recruiting
interns for the spring and fall of 2008 interested in aiding its
mission to preserve medicinal plants native to North America.1
The spring session will take place April 28-June 6 with an application
deadline of April 15, 2008 and the dates of the fall session are
September 1-October 10 with an application deadline of August 15, 2008.
Six to 8 interns will be accepted for each session.
The UpS Botanical Sanctuary is located in Rutland, Ohio, on
378-acres of the Appalachian foothills. Interns will stay onsite and
work on the farm for 28-30 hours a week for their 6-week sessions.
Experience will be gained in general farm upkeep and maintenance,
greenhouse work, medicinal plant conservation, cultivation, and
identification; medicine making, and the construction of medicine
trails. Interns will also have a chance to plant and maintain a
vegetable garden, improve the sanctuary landscape, learn the principals
and practices of sustainable wild harvesting, and partake of classes
and conferences at the sanctuary and surrounding herbal centers.
Interns will benefit from weekly presentations from local herbal
experts and opportunities to attend local events such as the Ohio
Pawpaw Festival. However, the most exciting opportunity might be the
chance to work on the “Talking Forest Trailing Project,” created by
Paul Strauss, UpS’s Sanctuary Steward.
This project was designed by Strauss to be a series of trails that
connects the UpS Sanctuary with hundreds of adjoining acres of forests,
prairies and habitats, according to Lynda LeMole, executive director of
UpS (e-mail, December 6, 2007). “We have already mapped out and built 5
miles of trails, with more to come,” wrote LeMole. “The trails have
signage identifying trees and plants with genus, species, common names,
historical significance and local history. Plant information sheets are
placed discreetly and 'naturally' along the trails, informing explorers
of botanical and specific plant information.” The grand opening of the
Talking Forest will occur late in 2008, and will open the trails to the
public.
The cost for each session is $600, payable before the program
begins. Interns will be responsible for all additional expenses such as
transportation and food etc. Shared rooms, camping space, restrooms and
showers, and cooking facilities are available.
More information can be obtained and applications can be made by
calling Betzy Bancroft, UpS office manager, or Lynda LeMole, UpS
executive director, at 802-476-6467. LeMole may also be reached through
e-mail at plantsaversmail@earthlink.net or lynda@unitedplantsavers.org. More information about UpS and its internship program is available at http://www.unitedplantsavers.org/.
—Kelly E. Saxton
Reference
1UpS Sanctuary Intern Program. United Plant Savers Web site. Available at: http://www.unitedplantsavers.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=127&cntnt01returnid=15. Accessed November 27, 2007. |