Current Position: Park Naturalist
How long have you been with Utah State Parks and in what capacity?
I started working at Jordanelle as a summer seasonal in 1995. I was hired as a full time Naturalist in April of 1998. I will celebrate 10 years in April 2008. I mostly work at the Rock Cliff Nature Center and teach school kids, campers, boy and girl scouts, etc. I also clean the campground and restrooms, take fees, and run the gift shop.
How did you become involved in working as a Park Naturalist?
I have always loved the outdoors. I grew up in Denver, CO and went to the mountains often. I played for hours in my front yard year round. When I was in college I took some outdoor leadership classes and went on a 5 week backpacking trip to learn about low impact camping and outdoor leadership. I worked for Outward bound one summer. I got my BS degree in Parks and Recreation with an emphasis in Environmental Education. When I moved to Utah, I found Rock Cliff and fell in love with the place. I wanted to work there. So I learned all I could in three summers and when the Education Specialists left I applied for the job.
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 open the Nature Center - I hang birdfeeders (If I don't take them in every night the raccoons eat all the seed and pull them down). Feed the small mouth bass we have in the fish tank. Check restrooms and wash windows. Answer phone calls and emails about camping and other things such as when in the moose going to be around. (The animals roam freely through the preserve so I usually have no idea). Depending on the day, I may prepare for a group that is coming to visit or I may prepare for the weekend programs. I do a campground walkabout at Hailstone on Friday nights and a Junior Ranger program on Saturdays at Rock Cliff. I also post campsite reservations in the campground. And, of course, talk to a lot of people that come to visit the Nature Center.
How many hours a week do you work in this position?
40 hours on the job, but like I said I love to be outdoors, so I am always learning about the environment even when I am not at work.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
Teaching someone something about the environment and watching the lights go on in their head.
What do you find to be the greatest challenges of your job?
I see so much disrespect for our environment and I am always trying to figure out how to reach the most people.
What kind of training/schooling is required in your position?
A degree of any kind will get you an interview, but to be most effective, one should volunteer in this field and have a degree that has something to do with Natural Resources. Along with the degree, it helps to have a lot of passion for natural resources.
Is there any kind of training or general experience that you wish you had before taking your job?
Public speaking, more personal experience that I could get from volunteering. I learned so much the first year because I was here five days a week interacting and observing in the environment. One of the things I learned was the pattern of the animals of when they left and when they would come back each season. Being here year round is very eye opening. Watching the river change from year to year and watching the animals has taught me a lot.
What are a few of the projects that you've been working on recently that have been the most interesting?
The campground walkabouts each week. I teach a different subject each week in the campground. I visit each campsite and do about a five-minute presentation on a certain subject. Tonight I just finished a walk about geology. Last week I did one on our watershed. I am just trying to make people aware of their surroundings and help them appreciate where they play. We get so caught up in life that we forget to sit back and look around us. We can learn so much from observing our natural surroundings. We have made a bunch of interesting and funny hats this summer that I wear in the campground to get peoples attention.
This is Utah State Parks' 50th anniversary and all the state parks have set up a geocache. I didn't geocache before we put one in the park so I have learned a lot about GPS units and geocaching.
If someone were interested in working as a Park Naturalist, what advice could you give them?
Volunteer in a park. Learn everything they can about all aspects of the park. Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know." The more I learn the more I realize I don't know. We can't know everything. You can always look it up and get back to the person or just look it up so the next time someone asks the question you can answer it. Get your "dirt time, " be outdoors and learn from the plants and animals. Be inspired from being outside. Be willing to work hard and do a lot of research. Enjoy kids. Don't assume adults know a lot about the environment. They can be just as spongy as kids and learn a lot.
Please share any further thoughts you may have about working in the state park system:
Working for state parks gives you a lot of opportunity to do a lot of things. I wear many hats during the day. It is frustrating when you see so many people littering and not cleaning up after themselves, but I have to remember that I am here to teach and hopefully I will make a difference in someone's life. Hopefully they will leave here with more respect for the environment. Mostly just get out and enjoy the state parks. We have some beautiful ones.
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