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Internships with Greenhouse Nursery Operations involve manual labor;
exposure to adverse weather conditions (particularly heat
and humidity); and exposure to dust, dirt, and possibly
some horticultural chemicals. Internships that focus on
the gardens and greenhouse operations include regular horticulture
maintenance duties such as planting, watering, weeding,
and pruning.
Special projects are typically added to an intern’s regular
duties so that they can practice project management skills
needed to see a project through from start to finish. Projects
vary greatly and are determined on an individual basis.
They may include everything from record-keeping, production of seasonal plants, researching nomenclature
and public programming.
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 SG’s Greenhouse Nursery Operations manage the production facility
that provides plants and related supplies necessary to meet the
horticultural needs of the Smithsonian museums. Major areas of
emphasis include the propagation and production of annuals and
hanging baskets for the flower beds and gardens; production of
tropical plants and seasonal pot plants for special events; production
of poinsettias for the winter holiday season; and the management
of the plant collections. Working directly with SG staff in charge
of the program, the intern will assist with cultivation techniques
used to produce various seasonal pot crops. This includes potting
rooted cuttings, watering, weeding, fertilizing, and monitoring
and controlling various diseases and pests.
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 The
primary focus of this internship will involve preparing an up-to-date
inventory list of the Orchid Collection and integrating this data
into a computerized records system. This will entail a thorough
review of the collection to locate and verify existing labels
and replace all faded or damaged labels. Identification of unknown
cultivars will be done. This position will provide the intern
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 This internship is designed to provide an intern with the opportunity to learn various components of living plant collections management. Under the direction of Smithsonian Institution staff, the intern will become competent in the core areas of plant records management through training, experiential learning, and self-guided project work. Projects focus on conducting plant inventories, nomenclature verification, accessioning, printing accession labels and tagging plants, mapping plant locations using GPS equipment and using ArcGIS software to create garden area maps.
The intern will learn the essentials of basic museum practice, records management review, collections development planning, and approaches to taxonomic verification. The intern will become proficient in the use of living collections management software BG-Base and the electronic mapping technologies of GPS and GIS.
This project is designed to meet the needs of a student who is interested in public gardens administration, is seeking experience in plant collections, and is interested in enhancing their plant identification and/or collection records techniques. |
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 This
internship involves maintenance of the various seasonal displays
within the Smithsonian museum interiors as well as long range
planning for them. The intern will work directly with the interior
plant section horticulturist and undertake a thorough review of
the many interior plant spaces throughout the Smithsonian to determine
the needs of each plant display area within each museum. The intern
will assist with maintaining tropical plants and preparing verified
plant label lists using proper plant nomenclature.
This position will provide opportunities to research seasonal
plant materials which effectively provide long lasting and aesthetically
pleasing displays. It will also provide insight into special challenges
of maintaining plant material in certain adverse conditions posed
by interior spaces.
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If you have questions regarding the internship application process, please contact the Intern Coordinator at (202) 633-5840. |
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