NPS Academy builds crucial skills for aspiring conservation professionals
WASHINGTON, DC (March 3, 2014) – The Student Conservation Association (SCA) announced today that 122 under-represented students from 28 states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. will attend NPS Academy, a workforce diversity initiative conducted in partnership with the National Park Service that provides participants with key skills valuable to becoming conservation professionals.
The students’ experience begins this month with a week of orientation and training at one of four locations:
- Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming), March 10-17
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina/Tennessee), March 17-24.
- Kenai Fjords National Park (Alaska), March 17-24.
- National Parks of New York Harbor, March 17-24.
The NPS Academy is in its fourth year and has added a new orientation site each year. The National Parks of New York Harbor will participate for the first time this year.
After successfully completing the March course, participants will serve in SCA internships this summer at a variety of national parks to gain the skills and experience necessary to be eligible for employment with the NPS
“NPS Academy is a vibrant partnership that has proven vital to broadening the career opportunities for diverse college students interested in conservation,” says SCA President & CEO Dale Penny. “Sustaining our natural resources has reached a crucial point, as has the need to reach out and engage new audiences in our national parks. NPS Academy meets both of these important objectives.”
The NPS Academy students come from diverse backgrounds, and their training addresses two critical goals of the National Park Service—to become younger and to develop a workforce that closer reflects the broad diversity of the United States. The students will be introduced to a range of National Park Service careers through seminars, workshops, field trips, and recreational activities.
About Student Conservation Association
The Student Conservation Association is the only national organization that develops tomorrow’s conservation leaders by providing high school and college students with service opportunities in all 50 states, from urban communities to national parks and forests. More than 4,000 SCA members annually render over two million hours of service to America’s public lands. Since 1957, SCA has helped to develop new generations of conservation leaders, inspire lifelong stewardship, and save the planet. SCA is headquartered in Washington, DC and maintains offices in Anchorage, AK, Boise, ID, Chicago, IL, Charlestown, NH, Oakland, CA, Pittsburgh, PA, and Seattle, WA.