UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens Crops of the World Internship

UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens Crops of the World Internship

Project Leader: Hannah Johnson

Sponsor: UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens

Project Theme: Food Justice and Sustainability; Education, Outreach, and Behavior Change

2021 Application Submission

Project Description:

The UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens has maintained a small but plentiful crop garden for many years, mostly under the direction of professional horticultural supervision. The TGIF funds will be used to create a new position for fourth year undergraduate student Hannah Johansson to maintain the garden alongside the ethnobotanical horticulturalist, director of collections, director of education and programing, and horticultural supervisor. Hannah has been working at the gardens as a student horticultural assistant since July 2020, where she has learned in-depth about professional garden management. In her studies as a Conservation and Resource Studies major, she has focused on the ecological and societal impacts of agriculture and will bring this academic knowledge into her new position. In addition to learning how to maintain the crop garden, Hannah will help plan a redesign of the garden for a more agroecological and environmental justice focus, collaborate with the education department to create new online educational materials for the public, and hopefully apply for grants to make this undergraduate position a more permanent feature of the UC Berkeley Botanical garden in future years.

Project Goals:

1) Provide a hands-on educational experience to an undergraduate student.

2) Plan the redesign of the garden with a more environmental justice and agroecological focus. This includes new educational materials.