About the Opportunity
This internship offers a bioinformatics or plant breeding student the unique opportunity to explore working with a highly collaborative agricultural Research and Development group focused on breeding berries. The intern will work most closely with Driscoll’s bioinformatics team and the molecular Blueberry and Blackberry breeders. The intern will be responsible for evaluating polyploid SNP dosage calling tools and identifying presence/absence polymorphisms from autotetraploid blueberry and blackberry sequence data. The intern will assess these strategies for implications in GWAS results. Additionally, the intern will have the opportunity to participate in general day-to-day breeding activities during peak berry season, including but not limited to, seedling selection, fruit evaluation, and phenotyping (field time will be adjusted according to intern interest). At the end of the internship, they will present the data and conclusion of their main projects in a report and will give an oral presentation and/or prepare a poster to discuss their findings. ***This on-site, 3-month summer internship in Watsonville, CA. ***
Responsibilities
- Work with the breeding and bioinformatics teams to understand the VCF files and raw read alignments for autotetraploid blueberry and blackberry
- Communicate progress and obstacles with members of the bioinformatics, blueberry, and blackberry teams
- Share findings through detailed documentation and summarized reports
- Collect blueberry and blackberry phenotypic data in the field, fruit lab, and/or greenhouse
- Assist in seedling selection and fruit evaluation for both breeding programs
- Help the different teams in day-to-day activities, such as plant tissue collection, fruit juicing
- Present findings, and provide recommendations based on findings
- Responsible for managing activities in collaboration with the breeding teams and collaborative research teams to accomplish planned growth
- Represents Driscoll’s in an ethical and business-like professional manner in all interactions with growers, co-workers, suppliers, customers, and the business community at large
- Ensure Driscoll’s confidential and proprietary information and materials
Candidate Profile
- Working on Master's Degree or PhD Degree in a Bioinformatics, Horticulture, Plant Breeding, Plant Science, or similar program.
- Coursework in plant breeding, biology- and genetics-related courses a plus.
- Experience in working with SNP or GBS Plant Breeding datasets is preferred
- Variant Calling Experience especially using FreeBayes and Updog (Intermediate)
- Programming in Python and R (Intermediate)
- Statistical analysis in Python or R (Advanced)
- Driver’s license, transportation, and the ability to be covered under a company-sponsored vehicle insurance program.
- Ability to build components of an overall workflow.
- Understand the scientific method.
- Be attentive to details.
- Be able to work in office, lab, and outdoor field environments (lab and outdoor components).
- Have great communication skills.
- Be reliable, honest, and trustworthy.
Compensation
The following information is provided in good faith as a general description of the salary range and benefits for the position posted. The actual compensation offered to the successful candidate is dependent upon experience, skills, education, work location, internal pay equity, and other objective job-related factors.
The hourly range estimated for this internship is: recent grads (recent grads within 6 months of graduation), Masters to PhD: $26-$40
Driscoll'S Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Driscoll'S and has not been reviewed or approved by Driscoll'S.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision, alongside wellness resources and an Employee Assistance Program. Company materials emphasize easy access and breadth as part of a formal Total Rewards program.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with employer match and participation in profit sharing are offered to support long‑term savings. These components complement base pay as part of the overall package.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid vacation, sick time, and personal/family care leave are provided, with parental leave and volunteer time off also referenced. The mix indicates a well‑rounded time‑off framework.
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What We Do
Driscoll’s is the global market leader for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage and hundreds of independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s is passionate about growing great tasting berries. Driscoll’s exclusive patented berry varieties are developed through years of research using only natural breeding methods – that means no GMOs. A dedicated team of agronomists, breeders, sensory analysts, plant pathologists and entomologists help grow baby seedlings that are then grown on family farms. Our independent berry growers then work with Mother Nature, using experience and know-how to get the very best out of each strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry plant. Driscoll’s is serious about yummy berries! Driscoll’s is the trusted brand for Only the Finest Berries ™.
