The Organic Act is the legislation
that creates the National Park Service and says that
the purpose of the national parks is to
preserve and protect natural treasures, it uses the terms
"wild" "life" and all the
cultural treasures therein for the enjoyment
future generations. That is our mission.
It's the thing that we do. It's the thing we come back to
every day in our work. It's the mission
that drives us every day.
I always knew I wanted to work in natural areas. I just didn't know how to do it.
And then I discovered the Park Service with a trip out west with
my grandparents when I was 14. I just fell in love.
But how to get here was tough. The mission of the Park Service
is really in sync with my values and what I'm interested in.
I find it more and more rewarding the outreach component of my job.
That's taking over more than the science and that's the reason that I got into
this for was a science.
And that spilled over to the educational realm connecting with this community and
then with our future which is the children.
As we're monitoring these sites were moving back and forth through
the trees through the forest
and we are looking for the most beautiful possible place to have lunch
And so we have half an hour in the middle of that
to sit down and enjoy some magnificent waterfall that's not even on the map
or sit underneath an enormous tree that, you know, you're just humbled by.
Those are the things that I remember at the end of the week looking back.
There are really two things that drive me to do this type of work
One is that it's an incredibly beautiful, awesome place to work
I'm a very lucky person that I get to work in some of the most beautiful
places on earth. So that's a driver right there.
The other driver from an intellectual standpoint is
there is a huge diversity of life on earth
and all these organisms have figured out
as a particular species, a way of making a living
and each one does it somewhat differently and
that's a pretty cool thing.
I've always been attracted to work actionable science I call it.
Applied research; where you can actually take something that's new
it's not production mode; and and apply it
in a way that could be used by managers. I've always gotten a great deal of
satisfaction out of that and I think what we're doing here is that. We're actually
trying to predict in the future what they're going to see in terms of landslides and
floods.
So they can allow people to continue to enjoy Mount Rainier National Park
I get a great deal of satisfaction where my work can act literally
you know, be applied to something you can see on the ground and actually
get some people enjoyment
but it does also give them some headaches too I imagine.
I have to admit when I'm out on the glacier and we're carrying all the gear and we're at high elevation and
you're working really hard;
I definitely ask myself whether I really want be doing this. But
you look at the scenery and
there's really no other place that I would rather be at that moment and I
particularly have that feeling when I remember
the scene that I saw when I'm back and I'm not carrying that gear.
But the memories that I have when I'm actually out there are something I would
never give up.
This job is the best combination of
science and public service that I could think of.
Because it has an element of research. I get to explore
new methods and collect new data and I get to
participate in activity that is of a benefit not only to the folks in this
park but
to the Park Service and to the nation as a whole
When I come out here, to me this is the greatest
imaginable paradise. I
I look at this and I'm just in
a form of heaven.
Even the most urban dweller. The most "citified" person
when they come out here and they see this blue sky
and they smell these flowers ... they just look at the spectacular
scenery.. they just have
great moment of self-realization.
It's something deep wired into
humans to appreciate that!