Social Media: Meet The Team
photo courtesy elizabeth beavers Alex (m) and Scout (f) enjoying a moment at home, just outside the park. While the sweet corn is sorely missed, Alaska offers Alex (al) a little more scenic splendor than Ohio. 
Neil Blake / NPS Photo Dan leading students on a backpacking trip Dan (DI) first came to Denali on a big green tour bus in 1997. He spent four hours trying to bushwhack uphill through the thickest brush on Primrose Ridge in the rain, and exhaustedly pitched his tent at midnight, still within sight of the park road. His experience improved the following day, and he made his way back to Denali as a Student Conservation Association intern ranger the next year. He spent ten years as a migratory naturalist and educator, alternating time on the subarctic tundra with the redwoods of the California coast and the Giant Sequoias of the Sierra Nevada. Making Alaska his home in 2008, he now works behind the scenes as a trainer and coach of interpreters in the National Park Service and Denali's partner organizations. He posts sporadically to the park's Facebook page, usually when he has a nifty photo to share. 
NPS Photo Elizabeth Wandering Growing up in Iowa with stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder gave Elizabeth (ekb) the wanderlust to keep heading west. Moving from parks in the Midwest to the West Coast she finally hit upon the "last frontier" when she came to work in Denali. You can't find many US parks farther west than those in Alaska (ok, ok maybe in American Samoa, Guam, etc). Elizabeth enjoys satisfying the wanderlust of social media followers who long for a taste of Denali from afar…at least until each has the chance to hitch up a covered wagon and visit in person. 
NPS Photo Ingrid and Moose Skull Ingrid (IN) is the Chief of Interpretation at Denali. She enjoys sharing Denali moments via the web to help keep this wild place in the hearts and minds of people around the world. By the way: for scale in this photo, she's six feet tall. 
Jacob W. Frank Jake's First Denali Winter In 2007, Jake (JWF) picked up a camera and started taking pictures of his new home in Grand Teton National Park. At first it was his way to study and learn about the flora and fauna of the park, but soon turned into a serious hobby. After working in Glacier and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks he decided to head north to Alaska. His pilgrimage to Denali started in Key West, FL and since arriving, has yet to leave. This will be his second summer as an interpretive park ranger leading discovery hikes and working at the Eielson Visitor Center (mile 66). During his free time he is often found hiking or backpacking in Denali's wilderness. He contributes to Facebook and other social media sites because he was first exposed to many national parks through photography. He also enjoys learning new photography techniques and is currently experimenting with High Dynamic Range, time-lapse, and 360 degree panoramic photography. 
Tim Rains / NPS PHOTO Jen and Puppy Tatum Jen (JR) is the Kennels Manager. She feels incredibly lucky to spend her days with the park sled dogs. Jen and the kennels staff enjoy sharing their adventures - whether on the trail with the dogs in winter or playing in the yard with newborn puppies in summer- with everyone else near and far who also love the sled dogs. It seems people can't get enough of what the pups are up to, so we do what we can to let everyone join in the fun of daily life in the kennels. Our hope is that people are inspired to learn more about sled dogs and mushing and, perhaps, they are even so inspired as to come meet the dogs in person in summer or to come experience the dogs' favorite season, winter, first hand. 
Kim in Talkeetna A budding career in archives and librarianship along with meeting "The High One", the northern landscapes and her northern Athabascan relatives are all what bring her to Denali. As a hobbyist photographer, she is relishing in the grandeur and beauty of this land and wishes to share her story and the story of this land with her family and friends through social media. 
Tim rains / nps photo Naaman Naaman (NH) is an interpretive supervisor at Denali National Park and Preserve. "It is a great honor to be able to work as a public servant in such an extraordinary place." He greatly enjoys sharing the park's resources with as many people as he can whether by providing interpretive programming in the park or pontificating to no one and everyone at the same time via social media. 
NPS Photo Sierra Sierra (SM) is the Education Coordinator for the Murie Science and Learning Center at Denali National Park. While she is cozier with computers than caribou on a daily basis, Sierra is an avid get-outsider and occasionally posts about journeys into Denali. In her previous life, Sierra was a professional tree-hugger (in the form of a forest geneticist), but now she finds meaning by helping to connect you with Arctic and Subarctic Alaska Park science. 
Jacob W. Frank / nps photo Tim at Savage River Having spent two summer seasons falling in love with the romance of wild Alaska among the glaciers, mountains, and whales of Glacier Bay National Park, Tim (TR) came to Denali to see what the fuss about the mountain was all about. He hears a poetry in the light and a song as it shapes the experience of the seasons. Having grown up in suburban California, he is fascinated by the conflicting midnights of the far north and struggles to come to terms with what it means to live by the grace of the light, and the solidarity of life in a remote region of the nation. Social media is an opportunity for him to connect the public with the feel of what it's like to be immersed in these haunting surreal compositions of nature. At work he is a media specialist and spends his time writing, photographing, and designing special projects for the park including the Alpenglow. He also coordinates the Artist-in-Residence program. |
Did You Know?
Did you know that Denali National Park and Preserve is home to both black bears and grizzly (brown) bears? Black bears inhabit the forested areas of the park, while grizzly bears mainly live on the open tundra. Almost all bears seen by visitors along the Park Road are grizzlies.