Summer Science Internship

Job Description

Full time - fixed term for 3 months.

DairyNZ has an exciting opportunity for an undergraduate or recent graduate student to contribute to our 7-year Low Nitrogen Systems programme. This summer internship will see you gain valuable experience and new skills through a mix of hands-on fieldwork and office work using real data from farmlet trials.

With your enthusiasm to give anything a go, you’ll be working alongside a passionate and supportive team on a variety of tasks including but not limited to, collecting forage, animal and soil samples, lab processing, data entry, handling and analysis using R and/or Excel. Report writing and presentation of key findings during your internship will also be included.

Along with opportunities to develop your data analysis skills, you’ll also gain insights into dairy farm management and the resulting feed intake of the herd, and its impact on the nitrogen cycle inside the farm gate. This work is part of a wider programme aimed at practical and implementable farm management solutions that will significantly reduce nitrogen loss from dairy farm systems.

This internship is part of our Māori internship programme which has been running for the past five years. During your internship we will incorporate opportunities for you to engage in Mātauranga Māori including an overnight wānanga. We also support you post-internship with your study and/or career aspirations.

Key requirements:

• A team player who’s highly motivated and willing to learn
• Able to follow instructions and processes
• Strong attention to detail
• Comfortable working with cows
• Current undergraduate or recent graduate, studying biology, agricultural, environmental science, or similar discipline
• Basic foundation in statistics, data analysis and report writing
• Have an interest in working outdoors with animals and/or agriculture
• Knowledge of, or interest in, Mātauranga Māori

Suitability:

• Previous knowledge & experience in dairying is not a requirement
• Previous knowledge of R is not a requirement
• Suitable for any 1st to 3rd year undergraduate or recent graduate

Location: Lincoln, Canterbury.

Applications close: Sunday 6th October 2024

To apply:

Please fill in the application form here and email this along with a copy of your academic transcript to recruitment@dairynz.co.nz. If you require a Word copy of the form to fill in, please email recruitment@dairynz.co.nz. Please note that a CV and cover letter, do not need to be submitted.