Ag Library Intern (Remote)


Contact information
Farm Address:
800 Cady Mall
Tempe, Arizona, 85287

Primary Contact: Cassie Barrett
Primary Phone:
    Type:
Cell
    Number: 5617795828
    Email: cbarre38@asu.edu

Website: https://solarspell.org/

Internship information
General Farm Description: SolarSPELL is a global education initiative based out of Arizona State University. We create offline, solar-powered digital libraries that go to disconnected communities around the world. This remote internship is a chance to support in the development of SolarSPELL's agriculture library and support farmers in Rwanda and South Sudan.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: January 13, 2025
Internship Ends: May 2nd, 2025
Number of Internship Available: 2
Application Deadline: November 22nd
Minimum Length of Stay: n/a

Internship Details:

Position: Agricultural Content Curator 

Organization: ASU SolarSPELL Initiative (Solar Powered Educational Learning Library)

Location: Tempe and/or Remote

Type of internship: For credit or non-paid; approximately 10 hours per week

Description

SolarSPELL is looking for interns with a strong passion for agriculture to help research and curate region-specific, open-access educational content for SolarSPELL’s Agriculture Library. New interns will build on the foundation established by previous student teams, enhancing the library’s resources. The Agriculture Library focuses on climate change adaptation strategies for small-scale subsistence farmers in regions like South Sudan and Rwanda. A background in small-scale agriculture, including crops such as coffee and corn, as well as knowledge of climate change impacts is essential for effective research and content curation.

SolarSPELL is a global educational initiative at Arizona State University that combines solar-powered technology, relevant content, and local capacity building. We work to build internet-ready skills and improve educational opportunities around the world. Our offline digital library is designed to bring educational content to resource-constrained locations that may lack electricity, internet connectivity, and/or traditional libraries. The SolarSPELL library emits an offline WiFi hotspot, to which any WiFi capable device (smartphones, tablets, laptops) can connect and freely surf thousands of resources that are carefully curated and continually improved to meet local information needs. 

More information on SolarSPELL can be found here: http://solarspell.org  

This internship offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to improving the quality of farming information available to students, farmers, and agricultural extension workers around the world, whose regions may lack electricity and/or access to the internet. Your contributions will be brought to the field and used by farmers and agricultural extension workers, potentially within months of your internship! 

Interns will be expected to attend a new intern orientation and participate in an end-of-semester presentation. Interns must complete acontent curation training workshop at the beginning of the semester and attend weekly virtual check-ins throughout the semester. Ideal candidates will be detail-oriented, proactive in their content curation tasks, and have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world.

Essential duties:

  • Conduct research about farming and agricultural practices in sub-saharan Africa, specifically South Sudan and Rwanda 
  • Curate locally-relevant content to the region, including topics like conservation agriculture, coffee production, and climate change
  • Contribute to general library development through research, library testing, and other tasks as interested

Other general tasks may include:

  • Feedback on current user interface and library organization/navigation
  • Metadata work, including tagging and organizing of content within the library database
  • Checking content websites we regularly curate from for any new content

Qualifications:

  • Detail oriented and reliable; a strong and honest work ethic motivates you
  • Globally minded; you have a desire to work for a department that serves communities from all over the world
  • Background knowledge and/or experience with agricultural practices

How to apply: If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit a resume and cover letter to Cassie Barrett at cbarre38@asu.edu. All documents should be in PDF format and follow the naming style of [LastName_FirstName_DesiredPosition]


Educational Opportunities: This remote internship offer the opportunity to learn about climate change adaptation strategies for small-scale subsistence farmers in regions like South Sudan and Rwanda.

Skills Desired: Background in agriculture studies.

Meals: N/A

Stipend: No

Housing: N/A

Preferred method of Contact: email