Intern Spotlight: Avery Guy

Avery Guy at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NPS Photo

Meet Avery Guy, a former Fish and Feathers intern at Great Smoky Mountains National Park through our partner Environment for the Americas. Read on to learn about her park story and what she loved most about her time this past summer!

What is your connection to Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

Growing up on the Qualla Boundary (part of the Eastern Band of Cherokee), I have lived near Great Smoky for nearly my whole life. My mom is a single parent, so we didn’t have much money growing up. For us, vacations always meant going to the Great Smokies. We would do hotels or camping on the weekends mainly. Anything fun I did was in the park since I was a little kid. I built so many unforgettable memories with my family there. This park has always felt like home to me. I really love to swim and like to find all the cool places to go in the water. It is such a wonderful opportunity to get to work here and be an intern after all these years!

How do you feel like you are making an impact on your park?

I feel like my biggest impact has come from running programs and lending my knowledge about the park. My main focus is the Interpretive Development Program. I am assigned five to six programs to implement, which I follow with statistical analysis , write reports, and make informed decisions based on the context I have. It is a ton of responsibility, but I appreciate that they treat us just the same way they would treat any other Interpretive Park Ranger. The interactions with people I talk to are so rewarding as well. I can visibly see my excitement for the area transfer to visitors when I facilitate my programs, and that is so fulfilling. I have also been working closely on the Junior Ranger Angler program at the park, which we are reviving this season. I am excited to help get it back off the ground and help kids get interested in fishing and the outdoors through it. Lastly, I have been very passionate about educating people on the Kuwahi Mountain name change, which I will dive into later. Overall, I feel like I am where I should be: teaching people all I know about the park.

Avery Guy with Rafael Santos, another Fish and Feathers intern at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NPS Photo

What has been one of your favorite programs to run?

I really enjoy the “porch talks” that I get to organize. It is a thirty-minute talk on birding in the park. I explain to visitors why birds are important to both us and the ecosystem, how birding can improve mental health, and how people can go birding for free. I try to introduce visitors to a free birding app that makes their experience super interesting and gets more people into bird identification, as well as the best spots nearby to see the unique birds of the Great Smoky Mountains. I also love running guided hikes. I get to create the plan for the hike, and I try to base them on forest diversity with an emphasis on birds and the trees.

What has been one standout experience so far?

Honestly, so much of this internship has been fun and supportive. There are so many Fish and Feathers interns to keep you accountable, and that has been really unique. For me, taking all of the interns out to Colorado and having the workshop at Rocky Mountain National Park was such a great thing to do. At the workshop, I felt like I could talk to the other interns about my life without judgment or barriers. It was really special to share that time with all of the like-minded individuals in the Fish and Feathers internship program, as well as prepare for the next summer.

Birdwatching with a friend at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NPS Photo

Has this internship helped you narrow down anything in regards to a career path?

Well, I always knew I wanted to work at a national park growing up. Then for high school, I moved to Asheville and people were not as supportive of this goal. I was told I wouldn't make enough money, that it wasn't a good career move. This pressure convinced me to go to nursing school. I knew from the get-go that I did not enjoy nursing, and eventually, after talking with coworkers and considering it myself, I quit that and decided to go into parks and recreation management. Since pivoting to this new field, I have been able to actually experience what I thought I wanted through this internship for the first time, and I really enjoy it and love it when I get to work with kids. It is so fulfilling! The education department at the park even sent me an invitation to work on water presentations to educate kids.

What is one thing about Great Smoky Mountains National Park that you want people to know?

Something most people don't know is how biodiverse the national park is, and that it was the most visited U.S. national park in 2022. Last year, it had over 15 million visitors. The highest point in Tennessee is a mountain that is currently called Clingman’s Dome (part of the park). It was named after a senator who supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. The Cherokee people originally named it Kuwahi and are in support of changing it back to that name, along with the state of Tennessee, and others. It's important to point out that the Cherokees still practice cultural ceremonies and traditions in the Great Smoky Mountains. Native American and Indigenous cultures live on and continue to today.

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