Oh, Ranger!

Growing up I spent a considerable amount of time outdoors and it was this experience that gave me a strong appreciation of the natural world. My father and uncle were national park rangers and I had a very different backyard from most kids. My backyards were national parks! Other than my college days at the University of Colorado, I have spent my entire life living in some of these special places. It was my dream to carry on the family tradition and be a park ranger. It is a dream that I have been lucky enough to achieve.

As an interpretive park ranger at Badlands National Park, my responsibility is to provide public resource education programs and products. Additionally, as an EMT and member of the park's search and rescue team, I respond to medical emergencies and technical rescues. As a wildland firefighter, I fight fires and participate in prescribed burns around the park, plus national fire details around the country. As a member of the park's structural fire brigade, I respond to building and vehicle fires around the park. I also assist management with planning, cultural compliance, annual bison roundups, web maintenance, audio visual equipment and training of new employees. 

The places that the National Park Service protects are a part of our national heritage. The NPS employs people who believe strongly in the agency's mission and the special treasures that it is charged to protect. For me, the best parts of being a park ranger include the diversity of the job, the time spent out in the resource, and the opportunity to share these wondrous places with others, plus, at the end of the day, I get to go play in my backyard.