How do you build a successful career in the National Park Service? In this installment of Centennial Voices, Wendy Lauritzen describes how she combined careful planning, serendipity, the guidance of mentors, and a professional organization to build a satisfying career.

Wendy Lauritzen Developing A Career

Interested in what it's like to be born in the middle of a Yellowstone winter or raised in the heart of Yosemite Valley? Curious about the inner workings of parks or how people establish careers with the National Park Service? Hear firsthand accounts from former and current National Park Service employees that celebrate the history of our national parks and the role they've played in lives around the world. Thanks to the Association of National Park Rangers Oral History Project for making many of these interviews possible.

People's stories are among the most valuable resources that the National Park Service preserves and protects for future generations. Listen to people who have made the Park Service what it is today.

Government

In this episode, Bill Wade describes how he had to bend the rules to safeguard resources when he was superintendent of Shenandoah National Park in the 1980s. The result? Some admonishments; a few accolades; and a sense of a job well done. Thanks to the Association of National Park Rangers for this oral history collaboration with the Park History Program.

Bill Wade: Protecting Shenandoah Resources

In the 1980s Meg Weesner was among a pioneer generation of women to move into Natural Resources Management in the National Park Service. During her career she discovered that collaboration with partners was the best way to preserve and protect valuable resources.

Meg Weesner on Community and Natural Resources

In college Sandra Weber decided to major in a subject she loved--history. Following her passions and gifts led to a job at the Clara Barton National Historic Site, the first step in a career with the National Park Service.

Sandra Weber: Doing A Job You Love

Do you realize how many people it takes to make the National Park System work? Many are like Flo Six Townsend, who found her Park Service passion in career development and employee training.  In 2013 we talked as part of the Association of National Park Rangers Oral History Project. Townsend reflected on her satisfaction is helping others advance their careers and how she herself discovered and developed her own talents in the National Park Service.

Flo Six Townsend: Paying it forward

Dick Martin served as the second superintendent Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska between 1985 and 1990. The assignment, in hold interviewer Alison Steiner, taught him how to work with communities in the face of controversy. This interview was part of the Association of National Park Rangers Oral History Project.

Wendy Lauritzen Developing A Career

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