TSCRA News Update: Summer internship opportunities with USDA-NRCS for high school and college students seeking ag careers

TSCRA News Update, Nov. 20, 2009

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Summer internship opportunities with USDA-NRCS for high school and college students seeking ag careers

Although the minds of most students are focused on the upcoming holidays, it is a prime time for them to take advantage of the holiday time off and complete applications for summer 2010 internships. The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers opportunities for high school and college students to get on-the-job training and experience by helping people help the land.

NRCS provides technical and financial assistance without a fee to farmers and ranchers, landowners, land managers to help them protect and improve the soil, water, plants, and animals on their property. NRCS works with these individuals to provide voluntary conservation planning on their property. The plans help landowners conserve, manage, and care for their land, crops, livestock and wildlife, by making improvements to farm and ranchland, creating and restoring wetlands, and improving wildlife habitat and grazing land.

One of the opportunities is the Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP) through the NRCS Federal Women's Program (FWP) for high school students who are interested in agricultural careers.

Applicants must be at least 16 years of age or older before June 1 of the first summer they intend to work. They will be classified as a Soil Conservation Aid at the GS-1 level. Eligible students need to contact the District Conservationist at their county USDA-NRCS office and submit their application by Dec. 11, 2009. The District Conservationist will complete an "Interview/Assessment – STEP" form for each applicant and submit it along with the student's application to the NRCS State Office in Temple.

A sub-committee for the FWP will evaluate the applications and make recommendations. Applicants who are selected for employment will be notified by March. Students are expected to work when they break for summer until mid-August.

Applicants who are selected for the STEP may be employed for more than one summer contingent on successful performance and budgetary constraints. STEP applications are available on the Texas NRCS FWP Web page at http://www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/about/civilrights/fwp_recruit.html

"This program was initiated to get minorities that are underrepresented thinking about agriculture as an option before they decide on their college major," said Eileen Vale, program manager for the Federal Women's Program. "Another reason the STEP program was initiated was due to the disparity in our workforce. This program helps young individuals experience working for NRCS first hand."

College students interested in working with NRCS can apply through the Student Career Experience Program starting in the summer of 2010. NRCS is planning to fill 15 to 20 new student trainee positions in the area of agricultural engineering, rangeland management, soil conservation and soil science.

This program will allow those who are selected to receive on-the-job training while attending an accredited college or university. Participants are expected to work full-time during summer vacation periods each summer until graduation in preparation for a permanent position with NRCS.

Students must work a minimum of 640 hours prior to graduation and must also meet the educational qualification requirements for the specialization for which they were hired as a student trainee. Upon successful completion of the program, trainees may be non-competitively converted to a professional position with NRCS.

Preferred fields of study are Agronomy, Engineering, Forestry, Plant Science, Range Management, Soil Science and Wildlife Management. Salary ranges from $11.74 to $13.18 per hour, depending on qualifications.

For more information, visit the Texas NRCS employment page at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/about/employment.html. Further information on the Student Career Experience Program can be obtained by contacting Tiffinie Meyer at 254-742-9934 or Sue Elliott at 254-742-9930.