NPS Academy as an avenue to wildland fire science careers at Grand Teton National Park

The 2024 Teton Interagency Fire Effects Monitoring Crew; four of the five crew members have connections to NPS Academy.

NPS/B PORTER

The fire effects monitoring crew at Grand Teton National Park has found success in recruitment and retention through the NPS Academy, an immersive program designed to expose candidates to career opportunities with National Park Service (NPS).

For the past thirteen years, the fire effects crew has hosted NPS Academy interns. Interns get training in fire ecology and experience in collecting vegetation data to learn more about fire’s effects on the park, but they also get basic fire training, an incident qualifications, or red, card, and opportunities to work with other fire management crews such as Grand Teton’s helitack and the Teton Interagency Wildland Fire Module. Those are practical benefits to the internship, but interns also get the priceless experience of living, working, and recreating in Grand Teton National Park and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for the summer.

“The interns we get through NPS Academy are highly motivated and hungry for experience,” said Olivia Burke, Grand Teton’s fire effects crew lead. “They want to fit it all into one season and that’s just not possible, so many come back in paid federal positions the following year.”

During their internships, NPS Academy interns work alongside NPS fire effects crewmembers collecting data that is the scientific underpinning for the park’s fire management program. Working on the fire effects crew provides a dynamic work experience where no two weeks are the same. The crew collects and analyzes vegetation data according to protocols but can serve as an initial attack module for wildfire when needed.

With the experience they gain during their internship, interns have tools that will help them achieve their career goals. Some of the crew’s interns have returned for seasons as NPS fire effects staff, others have gone into primary fire positions in other parks or with other agencies, while others have gone on to pursue career paths outside of fire. The experience gained through internships has paid off for both the crew and interns; three of the crew’s agency staff in 2024 were NPS Academy alumnae.

Crew leader Burke and this year’s intern prepare to collect data on aspens 10 years after a prescribed fire on the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

NPS/E JOHNSON

For Burke and assistant crew lead Emily Johnson, their connection to the program goes beyond recognizing its value as a recruitment tool. Both are NPS Academy alumnae who started on the crew as interns and have risen to leadership positions. Burke and Johnson are both indigenous and credit NPS Academy with getting them on their current career paths. “Fire ecology is inherently a subject that makes sense for young indigenous people to get into,” said Burke. “Our crew has had great success recruiting and retaining young talent through NPS Academy and we plan to continue offering experiences to interns in the coming years.”