News Release

Brooke Merrell Joins Team at Denali National Park and Preserve

Date: September 30, 2020
Contact: Peter Christian

A woman smiles at the camera
Brooke Merrell

NPS

Brooke Merrell has been selected to serve as the next Deputy Superintendent of Denali National Park and Preserve. Merrell has been serving in the position in an acting capacity since April of this year. She is currently the Team Lead for Environmental Planning and Compliance at the NPS Region 11 office in Anchorage.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Brooke to the team here at Denali,” said acting Superintendent Tom Medema. “Brooke has been with us for several months now which will make her permanent transition to the park quite seamless,” Medema said.

Brooke first came to Alaska in 2009 as a National Park Foundation Transportation Scholar working on a statewide NPS long range transportation plan. Though she had never considered Alaska as a place to live, it didn’t take her long to ditch all prior plans and join the Alaska Region permanently as a transportation planner, then as the Regional Environmental Coordinator. Brooke grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Utah and a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School. Prior to moving to Alaska, she worked for DNA People's Legal Services on the Navajo Nation, the City of Portland, Columbia Riverkeeper, and Gulf Islands National Seashore.

“We will miss Brooke’s leadership and planning talent here in the regional office,” said Acting Regional Director Don Striker, “but those same skills will be of great benefit to Denali National Park and Preserve as it tackles some really complex challenges in the next few years.” Brooke will spend the next three months in the Regional Office, finishing up with current projects before returning permanently to the park on January 3rd, 2021.  “I am so excited to get back to Denali to support the amazing community, resources and opportunities here,” said Merrell.  
 



Last updated: September 30, 2020

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