Grand Teton National Park hosted the fourteenth cohort of NPS Academy (NPSA) the week of March 4. NPSA was established in 2011 to address the park service's goal of building a workforce that better reflects our country's population. Young adults participate in a spring break orientation in Grand Teton to learn about NPS career opportunities, followed by a twelve-week summer internship in a national park. Embodying different ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds, participants bring new energy, skills, and perspectives to park leadership. The Foundation has supported this effort since it first began.
Twenty participants and two peer mentors (2023 NPSA alum) from all over the country spent the week learning about the NPS mission, exploring potential career paths, and building their community of support in preparation for their summer internship.
During the week, they stayed at Teton Science Schools' Kelly Campus. The group explored the park, most of whom had never been to Grand Teton. They snowshoed in the freshly fallen snow, dug snow pits with the park's physical science team, attended career sessions with NPS staff, heard from a panel of five alumni currently working in Grand Teton, explored the town of Jackson, met with park staff and partners in a meet and greet, and more. Participants had engaging discussions about opportunities and challenges of diversity within the NPS, how to build community in a new place, and learned about indigenous connections to the land and the importance of reciprocity.
The cohort was joined by two special guests: Steve Phan, chief of interpretation at Camp Nelson National Monument and former NPS Director Robert Stanton. The two acted as facilitators and keynote speakers to inspire the youth as they started their journey with the NPS.
Eight of the twenty interns will be placed with Grand Teton, conducting internships in interpretation, wildlife biology, trails, social science, fire effects, and administration. The rest of the cohort will be going to Glacier, Yellowstone, Acadia, Rocky Mountain, Mount Rainier, and Cabrillo National Monument.
We wish this year's NPSA interns all the best as they embark on their unique adventures this summer! Thanks to our supporters and partners who we collaborate with every year to make this program possible: National Park Service, American Conservation Experience, and Teton Science Schools.
