Yew tree and berries © Crown Copyright. Forestry Commission – Isobel Cameron.

Our Researching complex yew decline project is investigating the causes of the ongoing decline of ancient yew trees in southern England by examining links between tree health, soil conditions, and the microbiome.

As an intern, you will support fieldwork across the UK to assess and collect samples from yew populations, and laboratory analysis at the University of Birmingham to study the metabolomic status of affected trees. There may also be opportunities to analyse hyperspectral imagery and contribute to plant pathogen diagnostics with the Tree Health Diagnostic and Advisory Service at Alice Holt.

Location: Forest Research, Alice Holt, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4LH and The University of Birmingham (Blended working).

Find out more and apply here: Centre for Forest Protection Internship – Complex Yew Decline – Civil Service Jobs (1 position available).

Application deadline: Sunday 19 July 2026 at 23:55.

Grey squirrel on a sweet chestnut tree © Crown Copyright. Forestry Commission – Isobel Cameron.

Our Understanding grey squirrel bark stripping project is aiming to understand the chemical and behavioural factors behind grey squirrel bark-stripping damage by combining principles of chemical ecology, behavioural ecology, movement ecology, biologging, and machine learning.

The research seeks to identify natural tree chemicals that deter squirrel feeding and develop new tools to analyse squirrel behaviour using video observations, accelerometer data, and movement-tracking techniques.

As an intern, you will support behavioural data collection and analysis, carry out woodland surveys and squirrel population assessments, and gain training in machine learning, ecological field methods, and interdisciplinary wildlife research.

Location: Forest Research, Alice Holt, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4LH (Blended working).

Find out more and apply here: Centre for Forest Protection Internship – Grey Squirrel Bark Stripping Behaviour – Civil Service Jobs (1 position available).

Application deadline: Sunday 19 July 2026 at 23:55.

Cattle grazing among newly planted trees © Crown Copyright. Forest Research.

Our Farmer action for tree resilience project is aiming to understand what motivates farmers to improve the health and resilience of trees on their farms and to co-design practical resources that support informed decision-making and action. Proposed interventions include a farmer guide, podcast, and peer-learning activities, developed with farmer input and supported by six farmer champions who will help test, promote, and refine them.

As an intern, you will contribute to developing, testing, launching, and disseminating these interventions through content editing, stakeholder engagement, communications, and collaboration with farmers, experts, and policymakers.

Location: Forest Research, Alice Holt, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4LH (Blended working)

Find out more and apply here: Centre for Forest Protection Internship – Farmers and Trees – Civil Service Jobs (1 position available).

Application deadline: Sunday 19 July 2026 at 23:55.

Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) seedlings © Crown Copyright. Forest Research – George Gate.

This internship will build on the work of our Predicting risk to non-native tree species from potential threats in the UK project to develop a model for predicting biotic threats to non-native tree species (NNTs) in the UK.

As an intern, you will focus on testing and optimising an existing prediction pipeline that identifies potential pest and pathogen threats to non-native tree species in the UK. Key tasks will include incorporating data on pest and pathogen occurrence and distribution, assessing whether information on the severity of damage caused by native pests and diseases can improve predictions, and evaluating the overall effectiveness of the model. The project will conclude with the production of a short report summarising the research and findings.

Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (Blended working).

Find out more and apply here: Science Project Intern – Predicting pest and disease risks to non-native trees (1 position available).

Application deadline: Wednesday 22 July at 23:59.

Scots pine rings © Crown Copyright. Forestry Commission – Isobel Cameron.

Our Applying dendrochronology for genomic resilience project supports UK afforestation goals by combining tree-ring data, genomics and climate modelling to identify which oak tree populations are best suited to future climates, moving beyond the traditional “local is best” approach.

Two interns will help analyse genomic and growth data to improve predictions of tree adaptation under climate change and inform future woodland planting and assisted gene flow strategies. As an intern, you will join the midway through a three-year research programme and contribute to helping the project understand whether assisted gene flow is a useful or perhaps necessary tool to support the future climate adaptation of UK tree populations.

The two internships available with this project are:

• Dendrochronology analysis

This internship will focus on analysing dendrochronology data and evaluating a range of tools (e.g. mixed models, random forest and/or counterfactual approaches) to predict growth based on multi-decade training data, after controlling for covariates. Towards the end of the internship, the data will be combined to test whether genomic offset, a measure of local adaptation, can improve the predictive performance of tree growth models.

• Genome identification

This internship will focus on identifying parts of the genome that are associated with different environmental conditions across the study sites. By analysing DNA data from oak trees, the research will look for evidence of local adaptation, helping us understand how tree populations may respond to future climate change.

Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (Blended working, at least 2 days/week in-person at Kew).

Find out more and apply here: Science Project Intern – Integrating genomics and dendrochronology to predict tree growth for resilient future forests (2 positions available)

Application deadline: Wednesday 22 July at 23:59.