Gardens Educator/Extension Program Assistant, Department of Plant Sciences: UTIA

Utilizing the UT Gardens, Knoxville campus and its physical, online, and social media resources the Gardens Educator position will develop, implement, and evaluate experiential and observational environmental stewardship, gardening, and horticultural educational and outreach programs over a range of demographic audiences.

• Development, implementation and evaluation of year-round garden education programs for children and youth at the UT Gardens. This includes creation and implementation of horticulture and environmental education for 10-12 weeks of week-long summer camps for children 6-12 years of age. The position will also be responsible for handling all school field trip requests with the goal of coordinating content with Knox County educational benchmarks. Other youth and children specialty programs may need to be developed for after school scout troops, home schools or other civic youth organizations.
• Use creative resources to recruit participants for these programs
• Development, implementation and evaluation of adult workshops, symposia, and/or lectures throughout the year conducted by the Garden Educator or coordinated by Garden Educator with guest speakers or topic specialists. Use creative resources to recruit participants for these programs.
• Recruit camp staff, volunteers, and interns, to assist in developing and running educational programming and provide appropriate training and oversite. Develop budgets and program fee structure to cover costs of educational programming.
• Familiarize themselves with all University policies regarding working with minors, registrations and enrollments, fee collections, and privacy policies so that the Gardens is compliant with all federal, state, local, and university law and policies.
• Develop digital media including social media content and outreach material and coordinate with other garden staff to maintain and grow an audience engaged with the UT Gardens, UT Plant Sciences department and UTIA. Join staff wide efforts in producing public facing special events like the Gardens Gala, plant sales, Tennessee Smart Yards, etc.

Required Qualifications:

• Education:

  • High school diploma or GED

• Experience:

  • At least three years of experience with planning and leading education programs for children and adults.

• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

  • Knowledge of education program development best practices. 

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills needed to work with a variety of audiences.

  • Ability to work on weekends or evenings as needed. 

  • Ability to use electronic and in-person communication techniques.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Education:

  • Bachelor’s Degree

• Experience:

  • Experience with leading horticulture/garden education programs.

• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

  • Knowledge of program evaluation and reporting methods preferred. 

  • Ability to work with media and press to communicate program offerings.

Work Location:

• Location: UT Gardens,  Knoxville, TN
• Onsite

Compensation and Benefits:

• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here
• Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions:

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments. To be assured of full consideration, completed applications with all requested materials should be submitted on or before October 23, 2026.

• Resume
• Cover Letter

About The College/Department/Division:

The Department of Plant Sciences, part of the Herbert College of Agriculture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, addresses agricultural and environmental challenges through teaching, research, and Extension. We offer programs in plant sciences and landscape design, conduct research in crop production, genetics, plant physiology, and sustainable agriculture, and support growers and industry partners across Tennessee.