TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation Summer 2026 Internship

The mission of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation (TKREF) is to provide healthy food onworking lands in a way that regenerates the planet and inspires others to action. Our base ofoperations is TomKat Ranch, an 1800-acre grass-fed cattle ranch in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our team of ranchers, scientists, and advocates look to nature to guide our landscape management in support of our values.

Program Overview

The TomKat Ranch Internship runs for 8 weeks in the summer of 2026. This paid, educational opportunity provides exposure to regenerative food systems.

The internship is divided into two parts:

  1. Orientation and training (1 week): Intern group will receive initial orientation, job assignment, and safety training during the first week
  2. Duty rotation and curriculum (7 weeks): Reside in Ranch Camp and learn about Regenerative Ranching, Gardening, Food Systems, and Gatherings.

Interns are invited, but not required, to live on the ranch in bell-tent accommodations for the eight weeks of the on-ranch program.

Duties

Interns will be assigned to a rotation among our livestock, garden, facilities, gatherings, and science teams. Duties include but are not limited to:

  • Animal feeding and care
  • Supporting animal transport and processing
  • Fence building
  • Harvest, planting, and weeding
  • Compost and soil building projects
  • Contributing articles for the TKREF newsletter
  • Scientific data collection and entry
  • Event setup and preparation

Qualifications

Candidates must be at least 18 years of age. A valid driver’s license and a clean driving record with no major infractions are strongly preferred. Documentation establishing the right to work in the United States is required.

Candidates must be able to safely perform manual labor in varied climatic conditions and must be willing to work outdoors up to 8+ hours/day. Around 33% of duties require outdoor duty such as hiking steep slopes, working with livestock, operating small and large heavy equipment, working in heavy, dense vegetation, including poison oak, driving off-highway vehicles, lifting heavy objects up to 50 pounds, scientific testing, and other duties relating to the assigned project program. Around 33% of duties require office work such as data entry and filing, research, basic word processing, participating in educational events, and administering the grass-fed beef business.

We are looking for candidates from all academic disciplines and professional backgrounds. Most prior interns have a college degree or are working towards one, however, this is not a requirement. Prior experience working outdoors and with livestock is desired, but not required. Successful applicants will be self-motivated, curious, hard working, and able to communicate well with a diverse team. Comfort communicating in Spanish is a plus.

Hours and Duration

Interns will be expected to work approximately 40 hours per week and some evenings and/or weekends. Interns will have two, full-days off per week, which might not be consecutive.

The program will run roughly June 15 through September 15, 2026. The on-ranch portion will be staggered, hours are 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch break and two, 15-minute paid breaks. The project-based portion will run flexibly during the program dates to completion.

Compensation and Benefits

The compensation for this internship will be $21.00 per hour for up to 40 hours per week for 8 to 12 weeks.

Application Procedure

If interested, please send a Cover Letter and Resume to jobs@tomkatranch.org. Interviews will occur the week of April 13-17, 2026. Decisions will be announced by the first week of May 2026.