Oh, Ranger!

Fate destined me to work in a place I've known from childhood, and after nearly nine years of service as an interpretive park ranger, I wouldn't have wished for anything different.

My National Park Service career started at a summer enrichment program at Hawai'i Volcanoes that qualified me to become a Junior Park Ranger. I wonder what my instructors must have thought. I was one of those kolohe keiki (mischievous kids), hiding in the dark of the lava tube or deep in the rain forest, startling visitors on the trail. 

Through my work at Hawai'i Volcanoes, I am following in the footsteps of my kūpuna (elders) as the fourth generation of my 'ohana (family) to work here. My family holds strong generational ties to the 'āina (land) that comprises much of the park. We were not only raised in the park, but also developed park programs and built park infrastructure. 

My great-grandfather, William Elderts, helped establish the park's first roads and trails. My grandmother, Minnie Kaawaloa, demonstrated arts and crafts at the Waha'ula Visitor Center, a place now covered by lava. My uncle, Lionel Kaawaloa, worked at Hawai'i Volcanoes before transferring to Kalaupapa National Historic Site. Now I bring the island's natural and cultural history to life through education and interpretation. 

I encourage you to turn your child's park visit into an adventure. Help them become a Junior Park Ranger. You'll have fun, and learn and grow together. Who knows, it might even inspire their career as a Park Ranger.