Women of the NPS: Interns, Artists, Volunteers, and More

Cynthia Worthington is a fire effects monitor and has worked in several different units of the National Park Service during her career. The importance of collaboration with other fields and the built-in adaptability of fire programs is one of her favorite parts of working in fire that keeps her coming back.

You may have heard of cultural resources, but what exactly does this work entail and what type of work do interns and fellows do? Meet Madison “Madi” Duran (she/her), who is the American Conservation Experience (ACE) Museum Collections Intern at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site.

You may have heard of cultural resources, but what exactly does this work entail and what type of work do interns/fellows do? Meet Ella Wagner (she/her), who is the American Conservation Experience (ACE) 250th Commemorative Fellow at the NPS Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education (CROIE).

Women have played an important—though often hidden—part in Yosemite. In the 1800s, women were expected to play a traditional role in the private world of the family and the home. With the birth of the railroad and as the Gold Rush drew people to California in the late 1800s, pioneering women found ways to broaden traditional roles. Learn about early women artists and writers at Yosemite.

Although Badlands National Park is proud to employ many female paleontologists today, this scientific field was not always accepting of women. In this article, learn about how women's roles in paleontology have changed over years of Badlands research.

Maria Trevino is a Community Planning Fellow in New Mexico. She focuses on building a community network of state environmental educators, engaging partners with projects that address youth in stewardship. She also strategizes outreach efforts and community event planning, along with working on site plans for local greenway systems.

As part of a larger effort to the dynamic women doing science in our parks, we are featuring Alison Forrestel, Supervisory Vegetation Ecologist at Golden Gate National Recreation Area. What’s it like to manage a vegetation program for a huge, urban National Park? Read Alison’s story to find out!

Meet Sarah Codde, a Marine Ecologist with the San Francisco Bay Area Inventory & Monitoring Network. She specializes in marine mammals, and leads the elephant seal and harbor seal monitoring programs at Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. What’s it like to study 6,000 pound mammals that spend half their time in the ocean and half their time on land? Read Sarah’s story to find out!

Sara Hammond, Denver Service Center (DSC) Supervisory Administrative Specialist.

New opportunities keep Kim Shafer, a Landscape Architect and Project Manager with the Denver Service Center - Planning Division. engaged and skilled.