National Park Service Welcomes Chief of Interpretation to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Date: September 20, 2010

Sue D. Bennett, Site Manager of Anacostia Park and Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens (National Capital Parks-East) in Washington, D.C. has been selected as the Chief of Interpretation at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. She will start her new position on June 27, 2010.

A twenty year veteran of the National Park Service, Bennett began her NPS career working seasonally as an interpreter at Mount Rainier National Park, Assateague Island National Seashore and Everglades National Park before accepting her first permanent position as Everglades Gulf Coast Sub-District Interpreter. She then transferred to serve as North District Interpreter at Great Smoky Mountains National Park before her assignment as Chief of Interpretation at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site.

“Sue is a terrific addition to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore staff,” stated Superintendent Costa Dillon, “she has a well rounded experience in the National Park Service and she brings experience in big parks, small parks in urban and rural settings; it is great to have her here.”

“I am honored to work with the staff, partners and communities of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Few other National Park units so clearly reflect the nation’s shifting attitudes towards growth, economic development, stewardship, conservation and civic engagement. From early visits, I learned to care passionately for the natural and cultural resources of the Dunes and look forward to being a part of the continuum of caretakers.”
A native Illinoisan and 1986 graduate of the University of Illinois, Bennett worked at the Field Museum of Natural History Education Department in Chicago and in Visitor Services at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL prior to her career with the NPS. Bennett has served regionally and nationally as an interpretive trainer for the NPS and has provided both regional and national Critical Incident Management Peer Support for the agency. She served two terms on the national board of the professional organization “National Association for Interpretation.”
She is looking forward to joining the more than two million annual visitors to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore at the shore, in the lake and on the trails.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 392 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore includes 15 miles of the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan and 15,000 acres of beach, woods, marshes, and prairie in the northwest corner of Indiana. More than 2 million visitors come to this national park each year. More information can be found at www.nps.gov/INDU.