Trails are largely experienced from two approaches: forward and reverse. Sure, differences in height can result in slight differences in how they are experienced, but those differences are minimal. Hiking around Fern Lake. Yet, these perspectives are complicated by each viewer’s past. Every sight they’ve seen, every...
An unexpected adventure of my summer internship so far has been tagging along with Taylor Ellis, a park wildlife technician, for a Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) survey. The Northern Spotted Owl is threatened under the Endangered Species Act as a result of timber...
Montezuma Pass Wet and dry mapping of the San Pedro River is an initiative of the Nature Conservancy of Southwest Arizona with the added collaboration of citizen volunteers from Mexico, and the Coronado National Memorial employees. The scientists and citizens have worked on this project every...
After I got off work at 5pm, I drove five hours to Santa Fe to pick up my husband, Joey. Our only plan for my three-day weekend was to go to Meow Wolf, which I had heard so much about; I was careful not to...
Hi Ya'll! My name is Caprice Phillips and my pronouns are she/her. This summer I am interning as a Night Skies Assistant at Sequoia National Park. I am an Arkansan born and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Hot Springs is home to Hot Springs...
Evening saguaro in the Rincon Mountain District A Minnesotan at heart, I’ve seen more than 10,000 lakes - but nothing quite compares to seeing massive saguaros rising out of the desert. My name is Hannah, and I’m the Acoustics Assistant at Saguaro National Park. I graduated...
The Resource Division at Carlsbad Caverns is responsibility for managing the park's natural resources. The resources can be divided into three categories: paleontological (cultural resources), physical (caves, geology, hydrology), and biological (plants, animals). Erin Lynch, Physical Science Technician, Carlsbad Caverns National Park Erin Lynch belaying on the...
Last week we officially launched my social trail monitoring pilot program! During the day I was too busy to be nervous. I had incorrectly assumed that the Volunteer Management Office would have extra radios and first aid kits, so I spent the day tracking those...
Abby Adkins is my park ranger mentor at the New River Gorge National River. She has worked as a ranger for most of her career and still has the energy of someone in their first week at a new job. Abby wrote the grant that...
This summer I am working at Manassas National Battlefield Park (MANA). The park was formed on the basis of historical conservation and its cultural resources; however, I will be working on the natural resources this summer. MANA was the site of two battles in the Civil War, the...