Current Position: Chief of Programming (Interpretation, Environmental Education, Recreation)
How long have you been with Delaware State Parks and in what capacity?
Four years with Delaware State Parks in my current position; before that, I served as a park naturalist for Maryland State Parks for approximately eight years.
How did you become involved in working as a Chief of Programming?
In high school I got involved with Envirothon, a team based competition focused on Natural Resource knowledge. One of my first jobs was in high school as a crew member for the Maryland Conservation Corps. I spent the summer digging up and replanting 1 x 1 sections of cord grass to help prevent erosion. That led to work as a seasonal naturalist in the Maryland Park Service, which eventually lead to Delaware State Parks.
Describe a typical day at your job.
(If there is no such thing as a typical day, then please tell us about your primary responsibilities and duties.)
I hate to admit it but as an administrator much of my day deals with the important but so fun parts of the field, such as managing budgets, developing policies and procedures, grant writing, answering customer complaints and training. I do help out at special events and try to keep involved as much as possible. Here are a couple of my favorite current projects:
- Killens Pond Nature Center design project
- Osprey Satellite banding/tracking project
- Delaware State Parks adventure race series
- Fort Miles project
How many hours a week do you work in this position?
37.5+ The position requires a varying schedule.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
- Delaware is such a small state, unlike my counterparts in larger states I do get a chance to visit all 16 of my parks and have a relationship with each of our full time park interpreters. It is hard to get to know each of our 110+ seasonal educators but I try.
- Delaware is a forward thinking, growing, yet diverse park system with a very progressive approach to change. It is the only state park system I know of in the country that has a zoo, urban parks, marina, and beach parks all in one place. Just in the past four years I have seen my program grow by leaps and bounds.
- I work with some very talented people, and have an outstanding and gifted staff of full time educators.
What do you find to be the greatest challenges of your job?
- Never having enough time, it seems if I skip lunch and work late I still never have enough time to get everything done. Because of this there are many projects I would like to pursue but still are only in the development stage because of pressing priorities. In a nutshell deciding where to spend my time each day.
- In government things seem to be twice as hard and take twice as long as they normally should.
What kind of training/schooling is required in your position?
I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management and I am currently working on my Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. I am also a Certified Interpretive Trainer through the National Association of Interpretation.
Is there any kind of training or general experience that you wish you had before taking your job?
I have found all of my training in managing people as the most valuable to date, since what I am doing now is a long way from my undergraduate training in Wildlife Biology.
If someone were interested in working as a Chief of Interpretation within a state park system, what advice could you give them?
Network -- the best thing I have ever done is get to know my counterparts in my neighboring state park systems across the country. It is comforting to know whenever I face a problem, I am usually not the first person to tackle or research the problem. I often email or pick up the phone to seek advice for my fellow Chiefs of Interpretation in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland.
In preparation for such a position I would encourage interpreters to take on any additional administrative duties that they could to help prepare them for such a change of job duties in the future.
Please share any further thoughts you may have about working in the state park system:
Working in state parks is much like riding a roller coaster. It is certainly a very rewarding position. I particularly enjoy hearing from park guest who enjoyed our historic sites, nature centers, day camps or programs. But working in a bureaucracy can also be a little disheartening since most interpreters are very independent creative thinkers who don’t like hearing the word no.
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