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Advice

Do some environmental volunteering.

Check out the different opportunities available and identify which national parks you're most interested in. Contact the park and ask how to go about getting a summer internship.

Get an internship at a national park.

There are 417 areas including national parks, monuments, battlefields, and more that are part of NPS. Find one near you that you could visit and learn more about!

Day to Day

Visit a National Park near you! 

Park Naturalists

Plan, develop, and conduct programs to inform public of historical, natural, and scientific features of national, state, or local park.

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

First Interest High-Point

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Third Interest High-Point

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

Second Interest High-Point

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Conservation Scientists and Foresters

Conservation Scientists

Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations

Life Scientists

Provide visitor services, such as explaining regulations, answering visitor requests, needs and complaints, and providing information about the park and surrounding areas.

Conduct field trips to point out scientific, historic, and natural features of parks, forests, historic sites, or other attractions.

Prepare and present illustrated lectures and interpretive talks about park features.

Perform emergency duties to protect human life, government property, and natural features of park.

Confer with park staff to determine subjects and schedules for park programs.

Assist with operations of general facilities, such as visitor centers.

Plan, organize and direct activities of seasonal staff members.

Perform routine maintenance on park structures.

Prepare brochures and write newspaper articles.

Construct historical, scientific, and nature visitor-center displays.

Research stories regarding the area's natural history or environment.

Interview specialists in desired fields to obtain and develop data for park information programs.

Compile and maintain official park photographic and information files.

Take photographs and motion pictures for use in lectures and publications and to develop displays.

Survey park to determine forest conditions and distribution and abundance of fauna and flora.

Plan and develop audio-visual devices for public programs.

Plan and organize public events at the park.

Develop environmental educational programs and curricula for schools.

All-terrain vehicles ATV

Animal trapping equipment

Augers

Automated external defibrillators AED

Backpack tanks

Boat trailers

Brush cutters

Canoes

Chainsaws

Claw hammers

Computer laser printers

Digital still cameras

Digital video cameras

Drip torches

Dump trucks

Electronic cash registers

Emergency medical first aid kits

Fire rakes

Fire swatters

Fishing poles

Forest fire shovels

Four wheel drive 4WD vehicles

Global positioning system GPS devices

Hand pruners

Hand rakes

High-pressure pumper units

Horse bridles

Horse reins

Horse saddles

Horse trailers

Kayaks

Law enforcement handguns

Leaf blowers

Light pickup trucks

Line trimmers

Mobile radios

Mountain bikes

Multiline telephone systems

Multipurpose pliers

Multipurpose shovels

Multipurpose tractors

Passenger vans

Patrol motorboats

Personal computers

Phillips screwdrivers

Point of sale POS computer terminals

Pontoon boats

Power mowers

Snow skis

Straight screwdrivers

Surveillance binoculars

Survey levels

Survey transits

Tanker trucks

Utility knives

Water testing kits

Weed sprayers

Wood chippers

Work vans

Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Systems Adobe PageMaker

Data entry software

Email software

GroupWise

Mapping software

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Word

Point of sale POS software

Web browser software

Superintendant

♪♪ ♪♪ (female #2) Hi Lisa, this is  Samantha Weiss. I'm on Andrew Smith's team with Roadtrip Nation. I wanted to tell you we're running a little late, but we're on our way. We should be there in 45 minutes. ♪♪ ♪♪ Hi, we're here to interview Lisa Eckert. (park ranger) Okay. (male #1) Our team is from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and there's two other teams; we're the northern route, and there's a central route from Sacramento State, and the southern route is from University of Chicago. And we all left from the West Coast and we're rendezvousing in  New York in August. What were you doing when you were 21, 22 years old? I was with the concessions in Yellowstone National Park. I'd been waiting tables and was a tour guide on buses and realized, having grown up in Wisconsin, that I really liked the West. A group of high school friends in Wisconsin, in Madison, had siblings that worked out in Yellowstone, and they would backpack,  and I'd never done that; I'd never camped. So I think it was wondering what it was all about and it sounded so adventurous. So it was a group of friends that pretty much got me interested in applying to Yellowstone. What kind of frustrations or obstacles did you haver to overcome in order to keep trying and searching for what you found? Searching's hard, isn't it? There is that feeling...  I would admit that there were those periods when I realized: it isn't that... What is it going to be? And it was a little frustrating because I guess I thought something would just fall in my lap. A lot of people with the National Park Service start out as seasonal employees... seasonal rangers, with no assurance of getting a permanent job, and that was probably another frustrating point for me, because I'd chosen to do a seasonal job for a lot of years,  but near the end I thought-- It might have been that expectation of age: "Oh, turning 30, better have a permanent job by now." And not getting it right away, and then wondering what's going to happen. Was there ever a moment when you were like, "Maybe this isn't going to work out. Maybe I should try something else?" Was there ever a moment like that? The big time I had that question was when I'd been a seasonal ranger for eight years. It was applying to permanent jobs and being rejected. We called them gong letters, and I was going to paste my living room-- if I'd had a living room, but I didn't. I lived out of a Honda Civic-- ...paste my living room with gong letters. That I had that many because of the competition to get into the National Park service permanently. And I do recall a point where I really wondered, "Okay, I'll apply to one more job, "and if I don't get this, I need to find something else to do; what could it be?" So what was it that kept you filling out those applications? Thinking I could make a difference,  and wanting to work for an agency that I really believed in its mission. Do you feel fortunate for this life? It seems like you'd do anything to have it: living out out of a Honda Civic, or traveling across the country to work where you want to. I do feel lucky that I found what it was that makes me tick, and the outdoors is definitely an integral part of that. But boy, it's not easy. I'd be the first to admit that. What kind of advice would you have for someone like us in the position that we're in: fresh out of school, not exactly sure what we want to do? I think I would... look inside and see what gets you all excited to get up in the morning, like you asked me, and see if you can find something in that realm. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but right now I'm very happy where I am, so I feel really fortunate. (female #2) Thank you so much. (Lisa)  Oh, you're welcome. (female #2) That was great. (Lisa)  When Andrew called  I think he called for anybody, but I took the call that day [laughs] I fill in a lot because we have a small staff, so I was really glad I was answering the phone. (female #2)  Oh, I just think it  was cool...her whole women's lib vibe, and doing jobs that women don't do, and that's kind of been another reoccurring theme. Like, Rachel said it,  and Molly said it, and she said it too: just, women getting out there and kicking... and takin' names, which is something I keep repeating about people doing but I guess it's just a good way to describe getting out there and doing something you're really passionate about and not caring that it's something that maybe people before you haven't done,  and that's really cool. (Lisa)  I don't know if anyone ever told me that time flies as quickly as it does, but it really does. I don't think I thought of that in my 20s, or even my 30s. And so...grab it with gusto. ♪♪ ♪♪ (female #3)  [laughs] That's never happened before! ♪♪ ♪♪ (female #4)  You said you liked art when  you were younger. Did you ever think you'd make something out of it? (male #2) I never thought about the future when I was younger. I knew I wanted to make art; I didn't know if I'd be able to make a living off of it. ...sure didn't want it to be just a hobby. (female #4) What kept you  away from that? (male #2) I couldn't see  doing anything else. For the first year I was out of school I really wasn't creating my own art and I was miserable. I just...was going crazy. My parents were the worst: "What are you going to do with an art degree, Terry? You owe us a lot of money for college." And I was just like...  [laughs] "Don't worry about it. I'll figure it out." My mom's like, "You could always sell cars. Just do something." I'm just like, "I'm not going to do that, alright?" But there's a lot of pressure; I'm sure you're feeling it. Well, whenever you started the Rosalux Art Gallery... that's a big step and you were probably taking a lot of chances. How did you say,  "Okay, it's worth the risk?" It had come down to the point for me where it was either do that, or I didn't-- I couldn't see how else to move forward. I felt like I was kind of stuck going in circles with these same kind of galleries and same kind of art fair things. I was like, "What can I do that's different?" And as far as the risk... it was only money, so... And not that much of it, to be quite honest. But I didn't honestly really think too much about risks. I suppose, the day of the fire when I saw the fire trucks and firemen pulling my art  out of the gallery... [laughs] Then I was like, "Wow,  things could go horribly wrong." But you gotta wonder: if you never did those things, made those mistakes, would you be the person you are today? Would you be some uptight jerk that never took risks? ...take the experiences and do the stupid things that made your mom so mad? Having those experiences, does that make you a better person? I don't know. I choose to think it does. I was looking at people I went to college with that bought into this idea that making it was getting married right out of college and buying this house...start having kids or whatever. I was looking at them like they were totally crazy. Like, "How could you be getting married "and doing all of these grown-up things? "When you're the same guy "I was doing keg stands with six months ago? ...throwing eggs at peoples houses." Where do you get off being a grown-up without even allowing yourself the time to grow up? Most of those people now are divorced, and don't like their jobs, and aren't very happy. At the time when we were starting out they where looking at me like, "He doesn't have a clue, "He's just this burnout loser trying to to do this art thing. He's never going to make it." I was just like "Yeah, whatever, "You're a data-processing guru; you're really going places, you wear a tie... big deal." As time goes on, I'm happy I made the decisions I made. I'm sure some of them are too, but I was noticing the contrast in the lifestyles, and what people were placing importance on. It seems like so many people  try and bring you down... 'cause I've heard people say, "Oh, this person likes art." They're like, "Yeah, but he's not going to make it." Art...you have to...you either make it or you don't, so like it's nice to hear from a different perspective. I hate that people talk like that, too. it's just...I mean, it's like saying you're either gonna be the President or the mayor of Mayberry. It's just like, why be so extreme about things? It's not like it's the fast paced world of professional skating. It's like you either... [laughs] get the gold medal or you're gonna be in the Ice Capades. How stupid is that? If you're an ice skater and you're ice skating, you're ice skating,  so whatever, you're happy... [frustrated] ...god. [laughs] Sorry. You gotta think that maybe sometimes the people saying that aren't very happy about what they're doing, and they're just putting all that garbage on you or whatever. And generally when I meet people like that I avoid them. The people you surround yourself with are also a big influence on who you are. If you hang around a bunch of mopers and do-nothings, that's probably what you're going to be. If you hang out with people who have ideas and want to do things, then you're going to do things. It's inevitable. ♪♪ "I hope the very best for your futures and the very worst for those who told you you couldn't." [laughs] (Cristina) Nice! (Terrence) It's a curse for your foes. [laughter] ♪♪ ♪♪ (Bernardo)  [spells state] M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. [laughter] M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. (Cristina) M-I-S-S-I-S-I... (Cristina) M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. (Bernardo)  This is hella cool. (Gloria)  Isn't it? (Bernardo)  This probably wouldn't be as cool during the daylight. (Bernardo) I honestly never thought I'd  be at the Mississippi. I don't know, for some reason it's always been a big deal because in school you read about Huckleberry Finn  and Tom Sawyer. It always seemed like a fictional place. [water splashes] [laughter] ♪♪ ♪♪ (Andy) [sings along to music] True dreams of Wichita! ♪♪ ♪♪ (male #3) Well, it's been 29 years  since we started Bigfoot, and I started the shop as just a small four wheel drive shop. I was going to do it on the side...stay in construction, but open this in the evenings and... It was the right time and place, and the day we opened the door it was a full-time job. I always put product on my truck because I wanted to show it off. That's the idea: you sell product by using it. And I'd race every weekend at anything I could go to with the trucks: mud runs, hill climbs, truck pulls, whatever was around. From there it just grew. As I'd break things I'd put heavier components on. I went to bigger axles on the truck. Then you don't have enough power, so you put a bigger engine in. Then you're going along... "I need bigger tires again to make it work, to go more places with it." It's a vicious cycle: bigger tires, bigger axles, bigger engine, bigger tires, bigger axles, bigger engine... ...about three or four times. It took five years in that process before it became what it is today, the monster truck they are. First time we did a car crush it was in a farmer's field here in St. Louis, and I told Jim Cramer,  "We need to try that. "I know the trucks will drive over the tops of these. It'd probably be entertaining." He got a couple cars in this field, and drove over the cars. It was the easiest thing in the world. I had a VHS camera, videotaped it. Couple of promoters saw it, says, "You gotta do that in front of a crowd." After about nine months of everybody talkin' and talkin', we finally did the show in Columbia, Missouri. And the people went nuts... just totally nuts. When it started gaining popularity, did you have any idea that it would start this whole culture? No.   My wife, Maryland, and I... every year we'd sit down and talk about what we're going to do next year, and say, "It can't last, so we'd better run as hard as we can. Go to every show we can."  And I never set out and thought I'd build a monster truck or a Bigfoot; it just happened. (Andy) This is pretty wild. ♪♪ [engine hums] [engine stops] I had the same questions from high school on. My impression - and I'd be interested in your feedback - was that everywhere you go, people seem to know. They say, "Well, I'm going to be a nuclear physicist, and I've known since I was age six." And I started to wonder: Am I the only one who doesn't know? So I started asking people... lots of different people, from various walks of life that I thought could be interesting, "How did you arrive at your career, your position?" (Bernardo)  When you did  go ask everyone how they ended up where they were, what did you do with that information? Did that give you the sense to go, "Okay, I don't need a direction; I can see what's out there?" (Mary)  The first thing it  did was liberate me from that thought or expectation I perceived that everybody else knows, and I don't. So then with the knowledge that: No, I'm not the only one. In fact, I'm in the gross majority here. Then it kind of frees up your mind to say, "Okay, reflect what you're really about. "Don't listen to what people are telling you: 'You should be an accountant because it's safe.'" Nothing against accountants at all, but if you're not wired to be happy as an accountant or you're not talented as an accountant, that's kind of a dumb thing to pursue. Or don't do something because your father or mother said, "You have three generations of this." It allowed me to reflect back and say, "I know what I like, I know what I'm good at, "I know, at least in these kinds of experiences, this is when I've been happiest and most successful." So it freed up my mind to say, "Really...what kinds of things should I be looking more carefully at?" (Christina)  Would you say the opportunities for you to be able to move up with the company-- Would you say you looked for them, or they sort of came your way? How did that work for you? No, I wouldn't say I was looking for them, or certainly not expecting them. I run into this occasionally - Especially with some of the students just graduating - There's this level of expectation that I think is a mistake. Again, I contrast expectations with hopes, dreams, and goals. You bet...everybody should have those, but having the expectation that somebody owes you this or that it's absolutely going to come... I think is a set-up,  and you'll be disappointed. Just do the best you can with what you've got in front of you. How important is it for you to set goal for yourself? Do you find that's very important, and do you do that? It's extremely important to set goals for yourself. The alternative is just to float, and I think that breeds mediocrity, and I think that breeds unhappiness. If you don't feel like you're being the best you can be, and that you're growing and pushing yourself, then you're just being average. (Bob) And that's "Bigfoot One." That's my baby. (Jeff)  Does it still run? (Bob) Oh yeah. (Jeff) You wouldn't take it out for us, would you? [engine starts] (Andy) How do I do this? (Bob) Tire...then the step. (Bob) You're a pro now. [laughter] [engine starts] (Cristina) [impressed] Whoa! [truck engines hum] [RV horn honks] [trucks honk] [truck engine hums] (Jeff)  If somebody would've told me, when I was five years old, that I'd sit in that truck,  I would have gone nuts. (Andy)  I don't know what I expected, but that wasn't it at all. (Jeff) I thought he was gonna be so into crushing cars... and I just love how he's so humble about it. (Jeff) Just not, something... not an ambitious guy. (Sam) Well, he's ambitious. Just not ambitious to be, like, a multimillionaire in an office. (Bernardo) The interview was really cool. The best thing she said was that it's good to have goals and dreams, but not expectations. (Bernardo) That was the coolest. I was like, "Wow, I've never really... "Those really are two different things." (Bernardo) The way I took it is: Okay, just because I'm going to school doesn't mean I'm going to get a job in what I'm studying for; it's not guaranteed. I should have hopes and goals. Like, I'd really like to do this, I'd really like to work in the film industry, but it's not expected to happen if I go to film school; I have to earn it. (Cristina)  And how she used expectations as, like, that someone owes you something. And no one owes you anything. It's what you want to get out of life, in a sense. So risk it...I mean, what's going to happen if you don't? She said the fact you risk it...that's good. That's not failure: if you risk it and didn't succeed. If you don't risk it, that's failure. So you're failing yourself if you don't even bother. ♪♪ (female #5)  So I told them my story,  and that was the first time that nobody said to me,  "You're crazy." (male #4)  On paper he's not  supposed to be fronting  a rock band, but if you're going to live by those rules of what your supposed to do, there's not much point in living. (male #5) While you've got the time, when it's on your side, follow some dreams, or follow one. Take the shot; try it. Because 20 years down the road you might not get it back. (female announcer) To watch more interviews  from the road, and listen to the music that keeps us driving, visit www.roadtripnation.com. Online you can learn more about the Movement, and how to bring the Experience into your classroom. ♪♪ ♪♪ 

<p>The Northern route team stops in Wyoming to meet with Lisa Eckert, superintendent of Devil's Tower National Monument. Meanwhile in Minneapolis, the Central route team visits Terrence Payne, artist and founder of Rosalux Gallery. The Northern route team heads off to Kansas City, home of the monster truck, to interview Bob Chandler, creator of Bigfoot. The Central route team continues on to Peoria, Illinois to interview Mary Bell, VP of Logistics for Caterpillar.</p>

Gillette - Peoria

What were you doing when you were 21, 22 years old? >> Wow, I was with the concessions in Yellowstone National Park. I'd been waiting tables and was a tour guide on buses and realized having growing up in Wisconsin that I really liked the west. A group of high school friends in Wisconsin and Madison, they had siblings that worked out in Yellowstone and they would back pack, and I had never done that, I never camp. So I think it was, wondering what it was all about and it sounded so adventurous. And so it was a group of friends that pretty much got me interested in applying to Yellowstone. >> Hannah, what kind of frustrations or obstacles did you have to overcome in order to keep trying and keep searching for what you found? >> Hm, searching's hard, isn't it? >> Yeah. >> And there is that feeling, I would admit that there were those periods where, when I realized that it isn't that, what is it going to be? And it was a little frustrating because I guess I thought something would just fall in my lap. A lot of people with the National Park Service start out as seasonal employees, seasonal rangers, and with no assurance of getting a permanent job. And that was probably another frustrating point for me because I had chosen to do a seasonal job for a lot of years. But near the end I thought, it might have been that expectation of age. Oh, turning 30, better have a permanent job by now and not getting it right away and then wondering what's going to happen. >> Was there ever a moment when you were like maybe this isn't gonna work out, maybe I should try something else? Was there ever a moment like that? >> The big time I had that question was when I had been a seasonal ranger for eight years and then it was applying to permanent jobs and being rejected. We used to call them gong letters. And I was going to paste my living room, if I had a living room but I didn't, I lived out of a Honda Civic. Paste my living room with gong letters, that I had that many gong letters because of the competition to get into the National Park Service permanently. And I do recall a point where I really wondered, okay, I'll apply to one more job and if I don't get this, I need to find something else to do, what could it be? >> So what was it that kept you filling out those applications? >> Thinking I could make a difference and wanting to work for an agency that I really believed in its mission. >> Do you feel fortunate for this life? It seems like you'd do anything to have it, living out of a Honda Civic or traveling across the country to work where you want to. >> I do feel lucky that I found what it was that makes me tick. >> Yeah. >> And the outdoors is definitely an integral part of that. >> Yeah. >> But boy, it's not easy, I would be the first to admit that. >> [LAUGH] >> What kind of advice would you have for someone like us, in the position that we're in? Fresh out of school, not exactly sure what we want to do. >> I think I would look inside and see what gets you all excited to get up in the morning just like you asked me and then see if you can find something in that realm. I still don't know if I know what I wanna be when I grow up. >> [LAUGH] >> But right now, I'm very happy where I am and so I feel really fortunate. 

Passion

Interview

[Lisa] A lot of people with the National Park Service start out as seasonal employees, seasonal rangers, and-- with no assurance of getting a permanent job. And that was probably another frustrating point for me because I had chosen to do a seasonal job for a lot of years, but near the end, I thought, it might have been that expectation of age, you know. "Up, turning 30, better have "a permanent job by now." [Roadtripper] Was there ever a-a moment when you were like, you know, "Maybe this isn't gonna work out, "maybe I should try something else"? [Lisa] When I had been a seasonal ranger for eight years and then it was applying to permanent jobs and being rejected. We used to call them gong letters, and I was going to pace my living room--if I had a living room, but I didn't, I lived out of a Honda Civic. You know, pace my living room with gong letters that I had that many gong letters. Look inside and see what gets you all excited to get up in the morning just like you asked me, and then see if you can find something in that realm. 

Lisa Eckert

Superintendant

Videos

Lisa Eckert

Milestones

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My work combines:

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