Katherine Ko's Path

Katherine Ko's Path

Created by N.Anderson

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Katherine Ko's Path
Katherine grew up in New Jersey, working at a nature center as her first job. While studying Ecology at Vanderbuilt in Nashville, she spent summers in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area working various internships. Katherine now works as a Biologist for the Air Resources Division of NPS. Read her full Q&A below for more information!
Illustration of United States Map. Pins are dropped across the map marking Katherine's path from New Jersey to Nashville to Glen Canyon National Park and finally to Denver, Colorado.
Arrows connect each pin.

Image courtesy of Katherine Ko

A Q&A with Katherine Ko

Would you tell us a little about your current job at the NPS? 

Currently I am a Biologist for the Air Resources Division (ARD) of the National Park Service. I do project management and coordination mainly with the Dragonfly Mercury Project. The project was born out of ARD and we partner with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and coordinate with liaisons, partners, and citizen scientists in parks. I also work a little in communications. It’s kind of a catchall position: web content, education, increase engagement. I wish there was a little bit more field work, but with COVID, traveling is hard.

What was the journey like to get here? Was it a straight path or did you try a few different things?  

I grew up in New Jersey, which is far from home, but I was always into nature and outdoor science. One of my first jobs was a naturalist at a nature center I had gone to during my childhood. I went to college in Nashville, Tennessee at Vanderbilt University and majored in Ecology. Most of the science at Vanderbilt was medical based, so I didn’t get as much field work or geographic information system (GIS) training as I wanted. 

During the spring break of my sophomore year, I applied to do volunteer work and got placed at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area for a week. I made a contact with a natural resource manager there, kept in touch, got an opportunity to intern with them, and then became a Mosaics in Science intern in  2018.

The following year, I applied to be a Geoscientists in the Parks intern, also in Glen Canyon. Through these internships, I was able to dabble in other projects like bat surveys for white-nose syndrome. I never imagined I would be in the desert in the heat like that, but I got a lot of resource management experience and made great connections. I began working with the Dragonfly Mercury Project because of these internships during college. After graduating in May, 2019 I was able to continue this work as an Appalachian Mountain Club intern from March to October 2020 and then was hired officially into the National Park Service. I'm now at the Lakewood, Colorado office, about 20 minutes west of Denver.

What was the most important thing/biggest help in getting you to where you are today? 

For me, it was less of a single event and more of a mindset. A big part of my personality is to say yes to everything and that is really important for internships. It can be overwhelming for sure, but it helps get your foot in the door.
Because of this mindset, I was able to do some really cool things during my internships. I got to go on boats and rafting trips in the Colorado River, taking students into parks to learn about science. I was able to help with bat surveys to monitor the spread of white-nose syndrome by offering an extra hand and being available to tag along. I even got do some archeology work and visual content creation as well. Part of why I continued on this path is because of the many different "yes" opportunities I was given.

Do you have any tips for those who are still in college or just graduating about how to find your path?  

I just graduated in May 2019, but something that helps is not comparing yourself to those in other lines of work because they have such a different path. A person going into accounting is going to have a very different path than one going into outdoor education. Don't take shame in holding internships after college, I was working internships for over a year after college while some of my friends had jobs right after graduating.

Take opportunities wherever they may come from. Different schools and departments have varied levels of opportunities, some may be internships and some may be outdoor clubs teaching you to climb or raft. Both teach you skills that can help you out. And sometimes you just fall into opportunities that you don’t expect. Know your boundaries, but dabble around and see where your strengths lie. 
Additionally, focus on relationships and friendships in your life as well.

Do you have any goals for the future?

I think about traveling and van life all the time, but it's weird because I love the stability of this job and having a federal position. I guess a goal is balance of work life and fun life. Another thing would be to get more into field work and traveling for work to see more of the country.