Pictured are UNC students talking with a National Park Service ranger while out in 这个领域.

Working a nine-to-five job doesn’t always afford one the most scenic views.

Whether it’s the walls of a cubicle or a window peering out into an office parking lot, the vistas of professional life generally aren’t anything to write home about.

嗯，对大多数人来说，的确如此.

从8月. 13-17, Karen Barton, professor of Geography, GIS and 可持续性 in the 北科罗拉多大学 人文社会科学学院, took 14 UNC students up to Estes Park for a hands-on workshop titled “Careers in 国家公园和保护区.”

Over the course of those five days, students worked, hung out with and learned practical and professional skills from park workers, research center staff, wilderness volunteers and more – people whose day-to-day views consist of sloping mountains and tree-dappled 平原.

But beyond simply basking in the scenic vistas of Colorado’s natural splendor, Barton 说 the goal of the workshop was to provide the attending students with an in-depth knowledge of the kinds of careers one can pursue in the country’s parks and protected areas, as well as giving them some of the skills needed to dip their toes into those 专业水.

“The biggest impact was meeting park staff and volunteers and learning about their 工作，”巴顿说. “They were incredibly gracious to our students and motivated many 让他们考虑在公园工作.”

The workshop was geared toward giving students a wide variety of 经历 within 公园里. Offerings included time spent doing trail maintenance with Poudre Wilderness volunteers Debbie Lewis and Brooks Pardew, an informational session on how to write a professional/government resume hosted by Scott Esser, director of the Continental Divide 研究 Learning Center, to simply taking a few hikes through the mountains 和国家公园管理局的工作人员一起. 通过这些经历，参加的人 were given the full scope of what it might be like to work in a park.

Ethan Weatherwax, a junior History and Secondary 教育 major, 说 he initially signed up for the workshop somewhat on a whim, but that the information provided throughout 这件事与他的关系比他预料的更密切.

“I think I was one of, like, two people there that wasn't a GIS major,” Weatherwax 说. “But I think that having those different perspectives, you know, looking at something from a GIS perspective and a history perspective and seeing the same thing 以两种完全不同的方式让我大开眼界.”

In particular, he noted how useful the resume discussion would likely be for him going 向前.

“Resumes are so important for basically any job, and especially for federal resumes, 我不知道里面有什么，”他说. “我听说如果你翻过一页， 你做错了. 斯科特的书有36页.” 

Celine Torres, a senior Anthropology major with a Geography minor, spent the summer working in Rocky Mountain National Park as part of the trail maintenance revegetation 机组人员. She participated in the workshop by working with the student attendees and educating 他们负责公园植被控制的方方面面.

“这基本上就像高级园艺，”托雷斯说. “虽然它仍然是真的 当然很酷.”

According to Torres, the main value of the workshop was how it broke down some of the stigmas surrounding careers in the national parks and opened students' eyes to 更广泛的可能性.

“Over the summer, I wasn't working with just geographers and anthropologists and scientists,” 托雷斯说. “Matter of fact, half my 机组人员 was actually, like, literature or education 专业. 看起来不相关的领域. 但在公园工作，你 不需要有科学背景. 有各种各样的不同 人们只是不知道的机会.”

Torres went on to highlight how the National Park Service employs all sorts of people, including firefighters, educators, medical professionals, businesspeople, marketers 还有更多——这是韦瑟瓦克斯赞同的说法.

“I learned that almost any kind of job you can have outside of 公园里, you can have 也在公园里.”

For Barton, the broadening of students’ horizons and helping them to have 经历 they wouldn’t otherwise be able to have in a classroom is what these kinds of field 短途旅行都是博天堂官方网站.

“In my opinion, all field opportunities are valuable and worthwhile ones, since they allow students to stretch their imaginations and engage in hands-on, visceral 经历,” 她说.

As in-the-field outings like these start to become 可能的 again as we move further from the events of 2020, Barton 说 she hopes to see, and facilitate, as many as 可能的.

“I personally never had any 经历 like this as an undergraduate student. 有 a chance to meet professionals working in your dream field is something very unique UNC.”

——作者:Duard Headley