Nursery Assistant

 Nursery Assistant Position Announcement

Open Until Filled, Application Review Starts May 21st, 2024

Are you passionate about native plants, natural areas conservation and outdoor recreation? Does working for an organization growing native plants and harvesting their seeds to restore degraded ecosystems and steward habitat for rare species entice you? If so, we invite you to grow with us as we look to hire our next Nursery Assistant.

The Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah (Friends), based in the Eugene/Springfield area in Oregon, nurture and restore our connection to nature.  We collaborate with partner agencies to protect land, improve trails, restore ecosystem services, and steward rare habitats across 4700 acres. In service of this enterprise we operate a native plant materials program. We are a grass roots, volunteer-powered non-profit organization. Friends is a Rivers to Ridges Partnership partner and member of the Upper Willamette Stewardship Network.

Friends is an ally for equitable access to public resources and aspires to be an inclusive organization whose staff, volunteers, and membership are representative of the diversity in our community. We encourage applications from all groups of people. We recognize that the strength of the Friends is in our people, and we believe that every employee has the right to work in surroundings that are free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment. Friends does not and will not discriminate in employment and personnel practices, and our commitment to equal employment opportunity applies to every aspect of the employment relationship.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS, DUTIES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Native Plant Nursery provides seed and plant materials for the Friends restoration and stewardship projects, with surplus being offered to Rivers to Ridges and other restoration partners in the Willamette Valley. Plant starts are also potted and offered at sales to the public. The Nursery Assistant is an essential member of the nursery team that participates in all aspects of operating this plant materials program and physical facilities.

Specific duties include the following:

• Maintenance and care of seed production plots, adjacent paths and grounds
• Maintenance of equipment, facilities, and infrastructure
• Pest management and weeding
• Harvest, processing, and cleaning of native seed
• inventory management and record-keeping
• Propagation of live plants (bare root, containers, and plugs)
• Supervision and training of volunteers