Facilities Supervisor: Anna Spencer

I always knew I wanted to work outside

“I don’t remember knowing what I wanted to be as a kid, but I always knew I wanted to work outside. Before I came to the National Park Service, I worked on a horse farm. I loved being responsible for plants and animals, and spending each day in fresh air and sunshine.

Eventually the family I worked for sold the farm. I needed a new job, and I knew I wanted something that would allow me to take care of plants and animals in some way. I went to school for agriculture and large animal science, so I thought the National Park Service might be the right place for me.”

Anna Spencer, Gardener at Salem Maritime

NPS

"Now I work as a gardener at Salem Maritime and Saugus Iron Works National Historic Sites. I love this job because it allows me to be a kind of investigator in the garden. When the weather or some other environmental factor changes, I have to figure out how the plants will defend themselves. I’m always learning something new. Every single day a plant or animal shows me something I haven't seen before."

A sense of reward everyday

"When I walk into a garden and all the plants are healthy and happy, it’s a magical feeling. I realize not everyone has that sense of reward everyday, and I don’t take that feeling for granted. I think every human has the drive to nurture something, and if you can find that thing you’re good at you’re lucky. Some people are good moms, or ship captains, or dog parents. I’m really good at taking care of horses, plants, and cats."

Derby Garden

NPS

It’s not just outdoorsy people

"I hope people know it takes absolutely every kind of person in every field to make this agency successful. It’s not just outdoorsy people. It’s educators, librarians, IT, human resources, carpenters, and so much more. People say to me all the time, 'You must never be inside;' and I tell them, it takes a whole fleet of people inside to make the National Park Service work."

Preschool garden program at Saugus Iron Works

NPS

My message on Earth Day

"I think as educators we should be talking more about stewardship with young people, and the best thing we can do is live by example. It can be anything - like eating less meat, recycling more, keeping the clover in your grass for the bees – something big or little that helps the environment as a whole, because we’re part of that environment too.
People forget that tiny little gestures make a world of difference. We’re always looking for monumental changes but it’s important to remember, there are easy and uncomplicated ways to be environmental stewards each day."