Summer Internship

The farm internship gives students hands-on work experience at the farm and aims to teach our interns about the essential parts of vegetable production while thinking about sustainable farming at large. This internship will expand your horticultural skills and knowledge, developing applied skills in design, marketing, food handling, infrastructural maintenance and land stewardship.

The interns will spend their mornings Monday through Thursday working on the farm, planting, weeding, trellising, irrigating, maintaining, harvesting and washing the crops growing at the SSF. Wednesday and Thursday afternoons will be spent prepping and implementing the farm stand and CSA

Fridays will be spent doing activities tied to the internship portion of the summer experience. This will include

  • lectures/discussions on different topics including farm design, different aspects of vegetable production, soil and farm ecosystem health and social issues around food.
  • Farm tours and volunteering at other farms and community gardens
  • Rotating through different managerial roles on the farm; managing our farm stand, CSA, record keeping and outreach
  • Plan, plant and manage, harvest and take records for your own beds of vegetables

2024 Internship is officially open for applications. If you do want to apply, email a copy of your resume and a cover letter describing why you want to be in the program . Contact us at illinois-ssf@illinois.edu if you are interested in joining the team!

2022 Interns

Ashlyn

Hometown: Monmouth, IL 

Major: Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences 

Favorite Veggie: Broccoli 

Hobby: Swimming, being outdoors, & reading 

Favorite Building on Campus: ACES Library 

Aziz

Hometown: Chicago, IL 

Major: Agricultural & Consumer Economics w/ a concentration in Farm Management 

Favorite Veggie: Navy Bean  

Hobby: Creating graphic designs & playing sports 

Favorite Song: Hey Mama by Kanye West

Finn

Hometown: Palatine, IL 

Major: Agricultural and Biological Engineering 

Favorite Veggie: Carrot 

Hobby: Drawing 

Favorite Movie: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Hope

ft. Tire (cat)

Hometown: Aurora, IL

Major: Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability

Favorite Veggie: Cucumber

Hobby: Gaming

Favorite TV Show: Soul Eater

Julia

Hometown: Springfield, IL 

Major: Urban Planning w/ a concentration in Sustainability 

Favorite Veggie: Onions 

Hobby: Pottery and Choir 

Favorite Song: Death with Dignity by Sufjan Stevens

Kyle

Hometown: Plainfield, IL 

Major: Agricultural & Biological Engineering  

Favorite Veggie: Carrots 

Hobby: Hiking and camping 

Favorite TV Show: Scream Queens 

Riley

Hometown: Palatine, IL 

Major: Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences 

Favorite Veggie: Cucumber 

Hobby: Music 

Favorite Movie: Spirited Away 

Tori

Hometown: Roscoe, IL 

Major: Agriculture and Consumer Economics 

Favorite Veggie: Arugula 

Hobby: Cooking 

Favorite Show: Bridgerton   

Youseff

Hometown: San Diego, CA

Major: Electrical Engineering 

Favorite Veggie: Amaranth  

Hobby: Skateboarding 

Favorite Song: 20th Century Fox by The Doors  

2021 Interns

TY

  • Hometown: Houston, TX
  • Major: Second Year Graduate Student in The Department of Dance
  • Favorite Veggie: Currently Beets & Cilantro
  • Hobby: Creating
  • Favorite TV Show: Bob’s Burgers

SHALLON

  • Hometown: Homewood-Flossmoor IL
  • Major: Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability & Political Science
  • Favorite Veggie: Kale
  • Hobby: Making Jewelry
  • Favorite Book: Braiding Sweetgrass

MAITHU

  • Hometown: Hoffman Estates IL
  • Major: Linguistics
  • Favorite Veggie: Mushrooms- all varieties!
  • Hobby: Sketching & Reading
  • Favorite Book: A Clear and Muddy Loss of Love

NINA

  • Hometown: Chicago IL
  • Major: Animal Sciences
  • Favorite Veggie: Broccoli
  • Hobby: Gardening
  • Favorite Song: Easy by HTHAZE

MCKENNA

  • Hometown: Plainfield IL
  • Major: Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability & Sustainable Design
  • Favorite Veggie: Carrots
  • Hobby: Drawing
  • Favorite Song: Sweet Sunshine Wine by Pearl Charles

AYLA

  • Hometown: Springfield IL
  • Major: Sociology
  • Favorite Veggie: Cilantro
  • Hobby: Singing Scottish Folk Music
  • Favorite song/movie/book of 2020:

LISA

  • Hometown: Kildeer, IL
  • Major: Crop Sciences and Computer Science
  • Hobby: Cooking
  • Hidden Talent: A very fast breaststroke
  • Favorite Movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox

TORI

  • Hometown: Rochelle IL
  • Major: Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
  • Favorite Veggie: Brussel Sprouts
  • Hobby: Longboarding & Swimming
  • Favorite Song: Striptease by Carwash

2020 Interns

Bob Chen

  • Hometown: Algonquin, IL
  • Major: Agricultural and Biological Engineering
  • Favorite Veggie: Lettuce or potatoes
  • Hidden Talent: I speak Chinese.

Joe Nugent

  • Hometown: Manhattan, IL
  • Major: Computer Science and Crop Science
    • Minor: English
  • Favorite Veggie: Mixed Lettuce
  • Hidden Talent: I can play every brass instrument and I am a slam poet.

Tony Rudawski

  • Hometown: Harvard, IL
  • Major: Technical Systems Management
  • Favorite Veggie: Pea Shoot Flowers
  • Hidden Talent: I make glass art.