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Internship Opportunity at Montgomery Botanical Center – Summer 2020

Do you have students who are interested in being a Summer Botanical Associate at Montgomery

Botanical Center? We are currently accepting applications from undergraduates (or recent

graduates) for two Jennings Internship positions. These paid internships are meant to inspire

exceptional students into botanical careers and provide real-world experience to upcoming plant

scientists as they work independently and with staff on research projects and botanical garden

horticulture.

Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) is a non-profit botanical research garden established in

1959 and located in Coral Gables, Florida. Focused on palms and cycads, the garden’s population-

based, documented, scientific collections are derived from mainly wild-collected specimens and

provide a myriad of opportunities for research and investigation.

Internships require a commitment of 20 hours per week over the summer months (May– August).

To apply, please submit your CV or resume, one letter of recommendation, the names and

contact information for two additional references, and a brief cover letter describing your

research interests, relevant experience in botany or ecology, and availability over the summer.

Applications should be emailed to MBC’s Living Collections Manager, Dr. Joanna Tucker Lima, at

joannat@montgomerybotanical.org. Deadline: March 27, 2020

Visit our website for more information about MBC at www.montgomerybotanical.org. Attached

is a list of potential research projects available. Other research ideas will also be considered.

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Potential Research Projects at MBC:

1. Cycad cone and pollen collection, hand pollination, and seed viability studies.

2. Various horticulture/nursery studies – comparison of well water vs RO water; hand fertilization

vs. irrigation; IPM in the nursery (e.g., red scale on cycads); testing different media types; etc.

3. Attalea palm reproductive ecology.

4. Linking scientific publications using DNA from MBC collections with herbarium voucher records.

5. Cycad or palm anatomy.

6. Update and help manage the World List of Cycads web platform; prepare cycad herbarium

specimens and labels.

7. Volatile scent collection from palm inflorescences for comparisons within and across genera.

8. Phenology studies on palm and cycad species growing on the property.

9. A topic of your choosing!