Now Hiring: 2022-23 Food and Agriculture Careers Fellow (UC Global Food Initiative Fellowship)

The University of California, Berkeley invites applications for a student fellowship opportunity with the University of California Global Food Initiative (GFI). This fellowship will allow an outstanding student to serve as the Undergraduate Student Food and Agriculture Careers Fellow.

Compensation and commitment: $18.75/hour, 8-10 hours per week in fall 2022 and spring 2023 (with paid training to occur in June 2022). Fellow will receive a raise upon one year of service to BFI.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 23, 2022, at 5pm Pacific Time
Applicant must be a matriculated undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. To apply, submit the following items as a single pdf to foodinstitute@berkeley.edu with the subject line “Food and Agriculture Careers Fellow.”

  1. Cover letter stating your reasons for applying to this fellowship and a summary of most relevant experiences, skills, and/or education.
  2. Resumé (limit 2 pages).
  3. Contact information for 2 references. One should be a professor or major advisor.

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP:

Photo of Kevin Tuok.
Kevin Tuok, current UC Global Food Initiative Undergraduate Fellow

Background on the UC Global Food Initiative Student Fellowship Program: The overarching goal of the University of California Global Food Initiative is “to harness the resources of the University of California—its research, people, expertise, and tradition of public service—to put the world on a pathway to feed itself in ways that are nutritious and sustainable.” To engage students in this effort, the UC Office of the President has funded the GFI Student Fellowship Program since 2014.

Undergraduate Student Fellow: This position will work closely with the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI) staff to develop programming that serves student interests and needs related to food and agriculture-related careers.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Food Systems Opportunities Newsletter: Create and distribute weekly Berkeley Food Institute Food Systems Newsletter, in collaboration with BFI communications staff.

Cross-campus Collaboration: Encourage cross-pollination among UC Berkeley food-related student groups and activities via:

  • Surveying Berkeley undergraduates and graduate students to assess interests and needs related to food systems career development.
  • Assist with BFI event preparation, and represent BFI at public events, with a particular focus on food and agriculture careers.
  • Designing and executing a project of the fellow’s choosing that serves the goals of the program. The fellow will have a $500 programming budget.

Research and Administration

  • Perform research projects related to BFI’s programs
  • Data entry into BFI Salesforce and CADS databases
  • Create collateral using Adobe Creative Cloud or other software to promote BFI activities.
  • Update BFI WordPress website as needed
  • Other administrative tasks as needed to support BFI staff

GFI Meetings and Reporting: Participation in GFI systemwide activities, including GFI conference calls, attendance at meetings of GFI leadership, and GFI Fellows’ field trip.

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Matriculated undergraduate student at UC Berkeley.
  • Outstanding oral and written communication skills, particularly in regards to interpersonal communications across diverse groups.
  • Experience with facilitation, relationship-building, and project coordination among diverse people and programs.
  • Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a group setting; ability to manage multiple tasks.
  • Demonstrated creativity, innovation, and commitment.
  • Ability to foresee, identify, and recommend solutions in the position’s areas of responsibility.
  • Strong attention to detail.
  • Demonstrated skills in cultural competence.
  • Interest and experience in public service and social equity, as core tenets of the UC Berkeley experience and the Berkeley Food Institute mission.
  • Work experience and/or public service related to food and/or agriculture in a leadership role.
  • Comfort with creativity, innovation, and hard work.
  • Professionalism, courtesy, punctuality, and good humor.
  • Proficiency with Adobe Creative Cloud, Mailchimp, and Eventbrite.

Systemwide activities for the GFI Fellowship program will begin with an orientation in July 2022 over Zoom (exact date TBD). Systemwide activities are funded by the UC Global Food Initiative above and beyond the fellowship award, and will also include leadership retreats, potential field trips, and a closing symposium and poster presentation to be held in conjunction with the CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) in summer 2023. Please note that all GFI Student Fellows are expected to attend the systemwide events, if possible.

Direct any questions to BFI Executive Director Nina F. Ichikawa at nichikawa@berkeley.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant, see: http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf

For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy, see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct