About the role
Department Overview:
The Urban and Regional Food System Program is headed by Julie Dawson in the department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences. The department integrates plant sciences with agroecological approaches to create more resilient crops and landscapes in response to a changing climate and other global pressures placed on food-energy-water systems.
Anticipated Start Date:
November 30, 2026
Anticipated End Date (If Applicable):
Remote Work Eligibility Detail:
Not Remote
Anticipated Hours Per Week:
Minimum: 10
Schedule:
- The student will have blocks of time (minimum of three hours) that allow them to travel and work in various locations (campus, West Madison or Middleton) at least a couple times a week. Exact days are flexible, with minimum hours of 10/week.
- Must be able to work over winter break (December 28-January 15)
Salary/Wage Range/Lump Sum:
Minimum: $16.50
Number of Positions:
1
Qualifications:
- Background in plant management, either from coursework or extracurricular (such as a garden or farm).
- Experience in working in a laboratory, with emphasis on maintaining a tidy workspace and attention to detail.
- Ability to eventually work independently after training.
- Have, or be able to obtain, UW-Madison Driver Authorization.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
- General knowledge, or eagerness to learn, about tomatoes and their maintenance (prune, trellis, harvest).
- Previous detail oriented work, such as sample tracking and organization, would be ideal.
Position Summary/Job Duties
- Weekly tomato plant maintenance, including trellis, prune and harvest, in greenhouses on campus and at the West Madison Agricultural Research Station
- Extraction, rinsing and treatment of tomato seeds in the lab on campus
- Seed organization
- Dehusking hazelnuts
- Cracking hazelnuts out of shells
- Using a near-infrared scanner to collect pictures of hazelnuts at the Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center in Middleton, Wisconsin
- Sample tracking of hazelnuts
- Operating a lab-owned vehicle
- General lab maintenance
Physical Demands
- Lift greenhouse pots containing tomatoes, and totes of hazelnuts.
- Standing for extending periods of time.
- For cracking hazelnuts, hand strength and repetitive motions are required.
Institutional Statements
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
UW-Madison is an Equal Employment, Equal Access Employer committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce.
Institutional Statement on Diversity
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background-people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: diversity.wisc.edu
Accommodation Statement
If you need to request an accommodation because of a disability, you can find information about how to make a request at the following website:https://employeedisabilities.wisc.edu/disability-accommodation-information-for-applicants/