Ellen Westfall, Office of Public Health

Courtesy of Ellen Westfall

What is your job title and what are your duties this summer?

My official job title is Public Health Fellow/Intern at the National Park Service Office of Public Health (OPH). My duties include project and event planning, website and social media maintenance, outreach to partners and other offices within NPS, and assisting with any needs that my coworkers in OPH may require.

How did you get involved with your internship program and what inspired you to do an internship at the National Park Service?

I got involved with the National Park Service through the non-profit organization Greening Youth, who places individuals in internship and fellowship programs within land management agencies. I graduated from Ohio State University in May of 2020. COVID was in full swing and everything was very uncertain. I began applying for every job and internship I could find, hoping I would get lucky enough to be chosen for a position. When I got the news that I had been selected for the position with OPH, I was so thrilled. It was a best-case scenario and a dream come true for me! I have wanted to work for the Park Service since I was a kid; the best memories from my childhood were from the two trips we took as a family to Acadia National Park in Maine. I remember participating in the Junior Ranger programs and bringing the park pamphlets with me to school when we came home. Those trips filled me with a lot of joy.

What is the most rewarding part of the work you are doing?

The most rewarding part of the work I’m doing is seeing the scale at which the National Park Service operates and knowing that what I’m doing directly affects the success of the agency. Any time I see a National Park Service sign when I’m out in DC or visiting a new park, I feel really proud to be a part of the Park Service team.

Tell us something unique and special about your site.

To me, the most special part of working in Washington, DC is the incorporation of parks into a largely urban environment. The management of parks like Rock Creek, which runs through a large portion of DC, is critical to the ecological health of the city and provides huge amounts of green space to residents in the area. The sheer amount of green space managed by the Park Service is so unique to DC, and I was shocked by how green the city was when I moved.

How has your background (cultural, educational etc.) influenced your passion for conservation?

I became passionate for conservation at a very young age. A lot of my inspiration comes from my mother, who was always taking us to parks and gardens growing up. She definitely fostered that love of the outdoors and nature in me, and I knew that I wanted a job that would allow me to build upon my commitment to environmental stewardship. I know working for the National Park Service makes her very proud, which is really all I can ask for!

What advice do you have for youth who are interested in getting involved in stewardship and into the conservation field?

To get work experience early, no matter what the job is or where. Great people skills are what will set you apart once you start applying for jobs post-education. I worked as a server and a bartender for several years, and while it has nothing to do with what I studied, it helped me to develop the soft skills that I needed to be successful at the job I really wanted. Service industry jobs are great for learning how to handle high stress situations and how to effectively communicate and interact with all kinds of different people.

I would also say that to get more involved with conservation/stewardship, you should begin framing every opportunity as a chance to begin pursuing your own interests and passions. Prior to working for the Park Service, I was conducting litter clean-ups in and around my local river. It was a weekly commitment to environmental stewardship and time spent outdoors that I always looked forward to. I was able to turn this habit into a service project after I began my fellowship with NPS and moved from Ohio to DC. It’s rewarding to see what began as a personal interest transform into an opportunity to manage my own project and strengthen my relationships with the people and public lands of DC.