News Release

Park Service names new superintendent and state coordinator at Southern Arizona Office in Phoenix

Date: April 10, 2018

Park Service names new superintendent and state coordinator at Southern Arizona Office in Phoenix

 

DENVER — Meghan Kish, a 12-year veteran of the National Park Service (NPS), has been named superintendent of the Southern Arizona Office (SOAR) by Intermountain Region Director Sue Masica. Kish, who has managed three NPS units in New England since 2014, will assume her new post in Phoenix on April 16.

 

Kish is now superintendent of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, Roger Williams National Memorial and Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Before her current job, she was chief of Interpretation, Education & Outreach at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, where she established the park’s community outreach in downtown Los Angeles to underserved audiences.

 

“Meghan’s experience as a multi-park superintendent and her outreach on behalf of parks to diverse urban communities equip her well to serve Arizona parks and partners from our management hub in the state’s largest city,” Masica said.

 

As head of SOAR, Kish will oversee regional support for southern Arizona parks, with direct responsibility over Tonto, Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments. SOAR also provides administrative support for the Western Archeological & Conservation Center in Tucson and facility management support for parks with deferred maintenance projects. In addition, Kish will be the region’s state coordinator for Arizona’s 22 NPS units.

 

“I’m really excited about coming back to the desert,” said Kish, who grew up in Southern California’s Palm Desert. “I am also looking forward to making connections and partnerships in Arizona and working with the outstanding team at SOAR.”

 

Kish began her NPS career at Fire Island National Seashore and worked in Washington, DC for the NPS Budget Office and at Rock Creek Park and the Washington Monument. She has also served at Shenandoah and Glacier national parks. Kish worked previously for the National Park Foundation, the Department of the Interior’s National Invasive Species Council, and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama.

 

For more information about the Southern Arizona Office and national parks of Arizona, visit https://www.nps.gov/soar/index.htm