Please Note: To apply for the Dilmun Hill Internship do not complete this application. Use the link below

Apply to the Dilmun Hill position here

The Lund Fellows Program for Regenerative Agriculture provides Cornell undergraduate students across disciplines with the opportunity to broaden their perspectives and understanding of natural ecosystems and to learn about ecological and social approaches to agricultural systems. 

The Lund Fellows Program provides students opportunities to gain applied experience working on an agroecological farm and contribute to the farm in meaningful and helpful ways, while learning about the process and considerations involved in managing such an enterprise.

We work to spread awareness about the value and mission of agroecological biodynamic, organic, regenerative, and sustainable approaches to farming, strengthen relationships between the university and local farms and provide assistance to small farms that could not otherwise fund summer internships. 

Host farms participating in the Lund Fellows Program were prioritized based on the following values: 

• Explicitly uses agroecological, biodynamic and/or organic farming methods
• Diversified farm (not just certified organic with industrial farming approach)
• Small-scale farm (less than 200 hectares)
• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers when possible

Internship description

The student in this position will serve as a student manager for the Dilmun Hill Student Farm. Dilmun Hill operates with a student manager team (up to four students, hired annually) that take leadership in managing crop production, coordinating markets, and organizing farm outreach for the calendar year. The farm uses organic and regenerative farming practices and integrates a diversity of cropping systems, including annual vegetables, flowers and herbs, small/tree fruits, and other specialty crops. Managers serve as representatives and advocates for the farm and the greater Dilmun Hill community at Cornell. They are supervised by and work closely with the Organic Farm Coordinator in the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station with support from past managers, and Cornell faculty and staff with a range of expertise.

Student managers are responsible for vegetable crop planning and production, sales and marketing, and outreach to the Cornell community. Managers start working part-time during the spring semester, shift to full-time through the summer, and continue part-time in the fall semester. In the spring semester, managers undergo farm orientation and training, and work to prepare the farm for the upcoming season, including crop planning, seed orders, and greenhouse work. They spend the summer working on the farm with responsibilities including field and high tunnel production (e.g., planting, weeding, irrigation, harvesting), coordinating markets and distribution (CSA, U-pick, farm stands, donation), managing communications and social media, and organizing educational/outreach activities for members of the Cornell community. Field work and marketing activities continue into the fall season and there is a greater emphasis on student outreach, where managers organize volunteer work groups, provide class tours, and help coordinate social events through the Dilmun Hill Student Farm club.

As a member of the student manager team, the Lund Fellow is expected to take leadership in developing the Dilmun Hill Farm Report, which presents an annual summary of Dilmun Hill operations, activities, and experiences to share with the Cornell community.

Basic Qualifications and Preferred Experience

We welcome students from all colleges and majors. Success in this position will require some familiarity with farming or gardening and a passion for learning more about small farm practices and local food systems. Students should have the ability to conduct physical work in a field setting. It is critical to bring a collaborative work ethic to the position and have a commitment to maintaining positive working relationships, as workloads and responsibilities are collectively designated and shared. Students should be highly motivated and show the ability to work independently, develop work plans, and set priorities on the farm. Students need to demonstrate open, responsive, and effective communication skills to work effectively among the manager team, Cornell CALS faculty and staff, and the greater Cornell community.

Internship schedule 

Part-time during the spring semester (5 hrs/wk) and fall semester (10 hrs/wk) with some flexibility in days and times depending on class schedules. Full-time in summer (end May – Mid Aug) at 39 hours/week, Monday through Friday.

About the farm

Dilmun Hill Student Farm is Cornell’s student-run farm that seeks to foster community and empower students through active engagement in ecological agriculture. The Dilmun Hill Student Farm is a small, diversified farm on the Ithaca campus housed within the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As Cornell’s student farm, Dilmun Hill is an experiential learning farm that values student engagement and fosters ideas and contributions from across the university community. Dilmun Hill is an exciting and inclusive environment in which to work, learn, and build community.

Additional information

Please contact Ryan Maher, Organic Farm Coordinator, at rmm325@cornell.edu, if you have any questions about Dilmun Hill and the student manager position.