Internship Opportunities at Fairchild

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
2026-27 Academic Year  
Growing Beyond Earth Saturday Internship Program 

Attention High School Students

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is recruiting a select group of high school students for a new Saturday internship program built around Growing Beyond Earth (GBE), Fairchild’s NASA-funded science program developing food production technology for spacecraft.

This competitive, application-based opportunity is designed for ten advanced and highly motivated students who want to go well beyond the classroom and take part in real scientific and engineering work in partnership with NASA. Students will conduct advanced plant science experiments, analyze data, and help design, build, program, and test the technology used in controlled-environment agriculture and spaceflight research, working alongside Fairchild scientists and researchers.

GBE brings together plant science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, and aerospace research. Depending on the project, students might conduct plant growth trials, integrate and calibrate sensors, design mechanical components, build electronic systems, analyze environmental data, develop software, fabricate prototypes, or create entirely new research technology.

The program is based in Fairchild’s Innovation Studio, a digital design, fabrication, and experimental laboratory where students tackle a complex challenge: What does it take to grow food in space?

This is an unusual opportunity to build meaningful experience before college. Previous GBE students have gone on to highly competitive universities and careers in science, engineering, and aerospace. GBE participation has even been specifically cited by colleges in students’ admission letters. For students considering futures in aerospace, engineering, computer science, biology, or related STEM fields, the internship offers the chance to demonstrate sustained involvement in authentic research.

Program Details

• Saturdays, October 17 through June 19 
• 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• 25 program days total; students are required to attend at least 20
• Held at Fairchild’s Innovation Studio
• Application required; space is limited 

Students will receive:

• Up to 150 community service hours
• Letters of recommendation 
• Opportunities to present their work at local and national conferences
• Real-world research experience to build a truly unique college application

Who should apply: High school students who are curious, motivated, technically inclined, and ready for a challenge. You do not need to arrive as an expert. You should want to learn, build, experiment, solve problems, and work with real scientists and engineers on questions that matter.

Applications are Due September 25th. Click To Apply

PhD Graduate Fellowships at Fairchild

Now accepting applications for the 2027-28 academic year 

Interested in flexing your science communication muscle and inspiring the next generation of scientists? Join the Fairchild Graduate Fellowship at Fairchild! 

We are currently recruiting Ph.D. students/candidates studying biology, agriculture, environmental science, or other related disciplines to join the Fairchild Graduate Fellowship program. Through this program, Fellows serve as part-time teaching assistants with Fairchild’s award-winning educational outreach programs.

Our unique fellowship program offers:

• up to three years of financial support to work with the Fairchild Garden’s Education Department
• access to our world-renowned tropical plant collection and state-of-the-art laboratories
• admission into university courses taught at Fairchild
• training in the core disciplines that contribute to conservation biology, such as systematics, ecology, evolutionary biology, and genetics
• opportunities for applied projects that make a difference in protecting tropical biodiversity and the lives of people dependent on this diversity

Our program offers fantastic opportunities to develop skills in science communication, education, and public outreach. We encourage fellows to integrate their research into FTBG’s Citizen Science model.

Please submit a letter of interest, two letters of recommendation, unofficial transcripts, GRE scores (if applicable to your graduate program), and a CV to Amy Padolf, Director of Education, at apadolf@fairchildgarden.org.

Program Administration:
Administrator of Graduate Studies at Fairchild
Amy Padolf, Director of Education – apadolf@fairchildgarden.org

Why Fairchild?
Research Support
Graduate Students
Student Publications

Annually, we offer research grants for graduate students studying Tropical Biology.

For more information and current due dates, please contact the program administrator at apadolf@fairchildgarden.org.