It's What We Do: Connecting People With Nature and History

Andrew White enjoys a hike on a rainy day in Grand Teton National Park.

Helping NPS protect resources, enhance access, and improve experiences.

What is your name and job title? Andrew White, Visitor Use Management Specialist with the Denver Service Center (DSC) Planning Division.

What experience and education do you have? I'm relatively new to DSC, though I've been with the National Park Service (NPS) for about eight years. Prior to coming to DSC this spring, I started my NPS career as a seasonal interpretive ranger in Grand Teton National Park. After a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service, I returned to Grand Teton for a permanent administrative assistant position in the Superintendent's Office. Most recently, I spent four years as a public affairs specialist for the park. I have a Bachelor's in Environmental Studies from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

What is a typical day like? In Visitor Use Management, I get to work on a wide variety of projects, which is one of my favorite parts of the job. At the most basic level, Visitor Use Management is about proactively using a wide variety of strategies to accomplish the NPS mission of providing outstanding visitor experiences and ensuring the long-term protection of park resources. Each day brings a different challenge. Whether it's assessing the impacts a re-envisioned trails system will have on park visitors, helping park managers brainstorm solutions to reduce visitor conflicts in the backcountry, thinking through a monitoring strategy to ensure we protect an island's unique resources and experiences, or identifying a visitor capacity for a pristine beach, there is always interesting work to do. Of course, the best days are the ones I'm in a park, or speaking with park staff, and learning about the about the amazing resources they protect, and the visitor opportunities they provide.

What career advice would you give to someone who wants to follow a similar path? Be flexible, keep learning, and seek different perspectives. I'm a big believer in trying new and different things, especially those things that get you outside of your comfort zone. When you get outside your comfort zone, that's when real learning happens and you gain new perspectives. Those new and different perspectives will only help you in your career, no matter what winding path you follow.

What have you enjoyed most so far in your new role and why? Working in visitor use at DSC I get the opportunity to work with incredible colleagues who really are on the cutting edge of park management. Even though NPS has been welcoming visitors to parks for more than 100 years, the practice of intentional visitor use management in parks is still very much a nascent concept. That means we are still learning with every new project. It's exciting to be part of something that's new to a lot of people, and that affords such great opportunities to try new things and challenge ourselves.