Plant Breeding and Data Science Intern

Job Description

Plant Breeding and Data Science Intern | Driscoll’s

The Tone:
This is a full-time internship at Driscoll’s, located in Watsonville, California. Driscoll’s is the global market leader in fresh berries, committed to natural breeding methods and delivering high-quality, delicious fruits. This role offers a plant science student the unique opportunity to integrate plant breeding with data science, directly contributing to agricultural Research and Development efforts for strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. The intern’s work will establish foundational data and protocols crucial for advancing analytical and deep learning applications in berry breeding.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Full time
• Location: In-person, Watsonville, CA
• Pay: Freshman Junior to recent grad (Bachelor’s level within 6 months of graduation): $19-$23/Master to PhD: $26-$40 hourly
• Team: Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry Molecular Breeders and their corresponding teams
• Mission: Collect and annotate berry fruit images to generate model-ready data and protocols that support future analytical and deep learning efforts in berry breeding.
• Tech Stack: Image processing, big data analysis, database management, statistical modeling, deep learning, AI, Python, R

What You’ll Actually Do
• Define Protocols: Collaborate with molecular breeders to establish imaging platforms and phenotypic scales for fruit quality traits.
• Generate Data: Collect and annotate images of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries to develop analysis-ready datasets for GWAS and genomic prediction.
• Report Findings: Document progress, challenges, and conclusions through detailed reports and oral presentations to the breeding teams.
• Support Breeding Operations: Participate in day-to-day breeding activities such as seedling selection, fruit evaluation, and general phenotyping in field, lab, or greenhouse settings.
• Assist Teams: Help with various daily tasks for the breeding teams, including plant tissue collection and fruit juicing.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Working towards a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Horticulture, Plant Breeding, Plant Science, Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering, or a related field, with coursework in plant breeding, biology, and genetics.
• Experience: 0-3 years of experience, including image dataset preprocessing for model training, image dataset labeling/validation, and managing/processing large, complex datasets.
• Skills: Familiarity with Python and R, ability to apply statistical modeling, deep learning, and AI for predictive analytics, a solid understanding of the scientific method, and strong communication skills.
• Bonus: Experience with image-based plant phenotyping platforms and analysis workflows; valid driver’s license and personal transportation.