How did you find yourself at NPS?
Wearing the ranger uniform and working for NPS had always been a childhood dream. Road trips to various national parks throughout the western U.S. were a frequent vacation choice of my formative years. I looked forward to my family’s nearly annual visits to Yosemite National Park and Redwood National & State Parks. I eventually went off to study wildlife biology and conservation at Humboldt State University (now called Cal Poly Humboldt), earning both my B.S. and master's degree. I focused my research and studies on a federally threatened shorebird species called the western snowy plover. Shortly after graduating, I was working a seasonal position that I was not very enthusiastic about and was surprised to find a job announcement with the NPS in Point Reyes National Seashore, leading the monitoring and management of the western snowy plover program with the Integrated Resources Division. It was a serendipitous find and my way in to the NPS! I was so happy to be working with my focus species while working as an NPS biologist.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
