Get Involved

• The best way for students to start connecting with Dilmun Hill
• Participate in club sponsored events and activities during the academic year
• Open to all undergraduate and graduate students

• Paid positions to manage a sustainable vegetable farm
• Open to all undergraduates (not seniors)
• Part time in spring and fall, full time in summer

• Unpaid leadership positions to assist with farm logistics and event outreach
• Open to all undergraduates and graduate students
• Bring your skills and interests to the team

Our community

We are a student-run farm that has been practicing sustainable agriculture on Cornell's campus since 1996. Our community is the backbone of the farm – it makes it all work, and it makes it fun. Running a student farm is as much about organizing, budgeting, and growing vegetables as it is about working jointly as a team. Join us! 

Student Farm Managers

The farm managers are in charge of all daily operations at Dilmun Hill, including the sustainable vegetable production, sales and marketing, and donation of produce. Managers are also responsible for outreach and education efforts such as hosting tours, events and classes. This is an incredible opportunity for students interested in small-scale, fresh market vegetable production. Responsibilities are split up between the different managers.

Being a farm manager is a full time paid position over the summer months and a part-time position during the fall and spring semesters. Managers must be undergraduate students at Cornell and are also eligible to earn academic credits. Undergraduate students from all colleges and majors at Cornell are welcome to apply, no previous farming experience is required. We send out a call for applications each December/January. 

Click through the slides to meet our managers: 

Kaitlyn Feely

Year: 2024

Major: Agricultural sciences

Hometown: Trumansburg, NY

Extracurricular activities: Outdoor Odyssey, People’s Organizing Collective Cornell.

"I am an aspiring farm owner, and also a person who believes in the power of small-scale farming to provide sustainable nourishment and community. Learning about Dilmun Hill with my classes and attending farm events, I understood it as a place to begin work with these long-term goals and beliefs in mind."

Excited about: Paprika production, chamomile tea, pickled peppers, and other preserved value-added projects.

Favorite crop: Sweet onion (but it changes every hour)

Raymond Pan

Year: 2025, Rising Junior

Major: Environment & Sustainability with a concentration in sustainable agriculture, double minor in crop management, and food & agricultural business

Hometown: Athens, Georgia

Extracurricular activities: MANRRS, Rotaract Club, CALS Ambassador, E&S Peer Mentor, Alpha Gamma Rho, Pi Alpha Xi, Cornell Angler Society

"I was inspired by DiIlmun Hill’s regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices and the opportunity to gain experiences from production to marketing of produce.

With my experience in native plants conservation, I am excited to develop the pollinator garden through expansion and planting more native flowering plants for the pollinators. I am also excited to put classroom materials into practice through intercropping and companion planting."

Favorite flower or crop: Echinacea, muscadine grapes, garlic, beans

Willa Gagnon

Year: 2025

Major: Environment & Sustainability

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Extracurricular activities: Fantastic Fungi Fanatics, Fanclub Collective

"I wanted to learn how to grow vegetables and loved the way Dilmun connects the student community with farming and food systems." 

Excited about: eating the vegetables we grow, meeting all the members of the CSA, working with my fellow managers. Currants, planting raspberries, elderberries, shiitake mushrooms.

Favorite crop: Currently my favorite vegetable is radishes!

Sepehra Azami

Year: 2025, Rising Junior 

Major: Global Development 

Home country: Afghanistan 

Extracurricular activities: Outing Club at Cornell, Recreational Fencing Club, Organization for Afghan Students 

"Engaging in the work at Dilmun Hill during this summer has afforded me a valuable chance to put into action particular agricultural and farming insights I've learned from my classes, and this carries meaningful importance for me.

I'm thrilled about the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of farming, particularly with a focus on organic practices, and understanding the associated challenges. Another aspect that resonates deeply with me at Dilmun Hill, is the chance to interact with CSA members, offering them the finest selection of organic, farm-fresh vegetables and fruits."

Favorite crop: Current favorite dill and cucumbers 

Kaitlyn in a front of pink flowers
Portrait of Raymond Pan
Portrait of Willa
Sepehra Swiss chard and kale

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is a small working group of dedicated students who facilitate governance and community building around Dilmun Hill. Members support the farm by attending weekly planning meetings, organizing social events, and helping farm managers with work parties and farm jobs.The committee is in charge of planning and implementing policy and manages logistical and administrative needs. It functions with a non-hierarchical consensus-based structure.

Membership on the Steering Committee is open to undergraduates, one graduate student, and one non-student/community member. Undergraduate members of the Steering Committee may choose to receive one independent study credit per semester. We send out a call for applications for new Steering Committee members each December/January. A diversity of interests and expertise are welcome. 

Volunteers

Volunteers are a vital part of our community. We could not get the work done without them. Throughout the year we host work parties, opening the farm to members of the Cornell and Ithaca community for an afternoon of fun in the fields. They help with anything from preparing the beds, to planting, and weeding, and our favorite part: harvesting. In turn, volunteers learn about sustainable agricultural practices, join a fun community of farm-nuts and foodies, and often go home with fresh, organically grown produce.

Student Researchers

Student researchers conduct their own research at the farm. They also help the managers with daily operations and 2 to 4 hours of field work a week. If you feel that your research project is a good fit with our organically managed student farm and mission, we would like to hear about it!

  • Contact rmm325 [at] cornell.edu (Ryan Maher), Organic Farm Coordinator, if you are interested in conducting research at Dilmun Hill.

Faculty, Staff, Student Advisory Board (FSSAB)

The FSSAB assists in the creation of crucial policy for the farm and provides support and advice. It also helps to provide continuity of knowledge and operational procedures. The FSSAB consists of four faculty and staff board members, the Cornell AES organic coordinator, and four students that are former Dilmun Hill managers or Steering Committee members.

Organic Farm Coordinator

The organic coordinator is so much more than the supervisor of the farm managers: they are an advisor and mentor on any matter concerning the farm, may it be agricultural or administrative; they are the main staff liaison with the University and Cornell AES; they provide direct support and input to student managers and Steering Committee members.