BEYOND GEOCORPS - A PERSPECTIVE ON SEARCHING FOR AND SECURING FURTHER PARK SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Serving as a GeoCorps America intern at Bryce Canyon National Park during the 2005 season proved the perfect opportunity to exercise interests in both geoscience research and public education. I found the work environment collegial and interdisciplinary, with ample opportunity for professional development, not to mention field studies in one of the most beautiful places on earth! The experience intensified my desire to work for the Park Service.

Because a GSA member may only serve as a GeoCorps intern once, those enthusiastic for further Park Service work, volunteer or paid, must look beyond the Society-sponsored program. Options vary based on the financial and temporal needs of both the parks and the interested individual. The NPS Geologic Resources Division webpage is a good starting place for would-be Geoscientists-In-Parks. In my particular case, the need to focus on thesis research during summer 2006 precluded seasonal work at a distant park, but permitted a part-time, geology-focused internship with the local Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Park Service veterans often say the best way to get a permanent job with NPS is to put in as much volunteer and seasonal work as possible. As with private-sector careers, forging, developing, and maintaining relationships with individuals already in the Service is key to securing those opportunities. Because so few parks have geologists on staff, they are usually eager to accommodate earth scientists as volunteers, and may grant such specialists greater independence and/or responsibility than average volunteers. Volunteer work will frequently lead to an "in" on seasonal or term positions, an invitation to work through special student programs like STEP or SCEP, and ultimately produce the network of people and experience that secures permanent jobs. Though I have not yet achieved my goal of working for NPS full-time, the contacts and knowledge garnered through GeoCorps and my current park internship set me well on my way.