White Violet Center for Eco-Justice, located in Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, is seeking applicants for the position of Eco-Justice Intern.

At WVC you’ll find 320 acres of forestland, 300+ acres of certified organic cropland, a 5 acre organic garden, 2 orchards, a small apiary from which they harvest and sell raw honey, a small flock of chickens, and a herd of 40 alpacas. The animals’ manure is used for compost in the garden and their valuable fiber is harvested annually to create handmade yarns, scarves, hats, shawls, and other garments. The produce grown at WVC is used in kitchens on campus and sold at their Community Supported Agriculture program and farmer’s market. They do various processing for our CSA, such as dehydrating, fermenting, and pickling.

Duties: Interns at WVC are expected to participate in regular field work, assigned academic work, field trips, educational seminars, and occasional extracurricular enrichment activities (e.g., regional farming conferences). Most costs associated with these activities are covered by WVC as part of the internship program. Interns may opt to focus their time either with our animal husbandry program or with our organic gardens (this is strongly encouraged for shorter duration internship), or they may choose to pursue a whole-farm experience. Academic work will cover the following areas: eco-justice and food justice; eco-spirituality and Providence spirituality; farm-specific work; and academic work focused on the intern’s goals (e.g., environmentalism and public policy; small farm management; farm marketing; etc.). Specific duties of the intern’s program will be determined based on their emphasis, but will revolve around regular small farm operations, e.g., land & soil management, pasture management, animal care & husbandry, planting, scheduling, regulation compliance, etc. The intern will also complete a project in their chosen area.

Qualifications: Applicants must be physically fit, capable of lifting at least 50lbs, must be able to use a shovel and wheelbarrow easily, and able to work in a variety of weather conditions. Previous experience with animals is preferred if working with the alpacas, but not necessary to apply. Above all, we encourage a willingness to learn and ability to self-direct.

Duration: Duration is negotiable. There is a minimum commitment of 3 months with longer options available

Start Date: The earliest available openings begin in March

Hours: 5 days a week with rotating weekend shifts, 35-45 hours weekly total

Benefits: Benefits may include; a private room, farm produce, some paid meals, a small stipend, and access to WVC workshops. There are also opportunities to learn fiber arts such as felting, knitting, and spinning.

For more information about WVC internships and to begin your application process, please visit: http://spsmw.org/white-violet-center-for-eco-justice/organic-gardening-and-alpaca-internships/

For more information about WVC, please visit: www.whiteviolet.org

For questions, please contact Robyn Morton at rmorton@spsmw.org, or at (812)535-2932