Strawberry and Raspberry Breeding Intern

About the Opportunity

This internship will offer the opportunity to work closely with Driscoll’s strawberry and raspberry breeding programs. The intern will be responsible for one main project with each berry, from set up to data analysis. In parallel, the intern will participate in general day-to-day breeding activities during peak season, including but not limited to, seedling selection, fruit evaluation, and phenotyping. The intern will present the data and conclusion of their main projects in a report, and will give an oral presentation to discuss their findings.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The intern will work closely with each of the breeding team, and with the greenhouse team to develop and lead experiments aiming to optimize germination rate and flowering time in both crops. The intern will be involved in experimental design, experiment set up, data collection, and data analysis.
. ***This on-site, 3-month summer internship in Watsonville, CA. ***

 Responsibilities

• Collaborate with greenhouse team and breeding team to design experiments aiming to optimize germination rate and time to flowering in raspberry and strawberry
• Data collection in greenhouse environment
• Analyze data, confirm or reject hypothesis, and recommend future experiments
• Collect strawberry and raspberry phenotypic data in the field, fruit lab, or greenhouse 
• Assist in seedling selection and fruit evaluation for both breeding programs
• Help the different teams in day-to-day activities, such as plant tissue collection
• Present findings, and provide recommendations based on findings 
• Responsible for managing activities in collaboration with the breeding teams and collaborative research teams to accomplish the defined projects.
• Represents Driscoll’s in an ethical and business-like professional manner in all interactions with growers, co-workers, suppliers, customers and the business community at large.
• Ensure Driscoll’s confidential and proprietary information and materials. 

    Candidate Profile

• Currently enrolled in a 4-year college or university, or in a Master Degree, in a Horticulture, Plant Science, or similar program. 
• Coursework in biology, horticulture, plant physiology, plant genetics.
• Strong in Microsoft Word and Excel; prior experience with R or JMP statistical software, a plus.
• Have an understanding of the scientific method. 
• Be attentive to details, and have high observation skills. 
• Be able to work in both a research lab and an outdoor field environment. 
• Have great communication skills. 
• Be reliable, honest, and trustworthy.
• Valid driver’s license valid in California.
• Ability to be covered under company-sponsored vehicle insurance program. 
• Spanish a plus, but not required.

Compensation
The following information is provided in good faith as a general description of the salary range and benefits for the position posted.  The actual compensation offered to the successful candidate is dependent upon experience, skills, education, work location, internal pay equity, and other objective job-related factors. 
 
The hourly range estimated for this internship is: Freshman Junior to recent grad (Bachelor's level within 6 months of graduation): $18-$22/Masters: $26-$35