Learn what it’s like to manage a national park in a national park

Park Break is an all-expenses-paid, park-based field seminar for graduate students who are thinking about a career in park management or park-related research and education. Park Break puts you in a national park unit for up to a week’s worth of field and classroom activities in close collaboration with park scientists and scholars, managers and administrators, and partner organizations.

Breaking news: Park Break coming to Keweenaw National Historical Park, Saguaro National Park in 2014 … applications now being accepted

(posted November 20, 2013) — The locations of the two Park Break sessions being offered in 2014 have now been confirmed:

• Keweenaw National Historical Park, located in the rugged Keweenaw Peninsula along Lake Superior in far northern Michigan, will host a Park Break focused on archaeology during the week of April 7–11, 2014.
• Saguaro National Park, which straddles Tucson in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, will host a Park Break focused on hydrogeology during the week of March 10–14, 2014.

Click here for more information about the Keweenaw and Saguaro Park Break sessions.

Are you a grad student interested in applying to take part in a 2014 Park Break?  Read the important eligibility and background information about Park Break below.  Minority students are especially encouraged to apply.  Then, at the bottom of this page, you’ll find a link to the application form.

Find out what it’s like to manage a national park

The primary goal of Park Break is to let promising graduate students experience the challenges of managing a national park unit. Through instruction from and dialogue with park resource managers, researchers, administrators, interpreters, and other professionals, Park Break participants will begin to understand the complexity of park research and management. This unique program is not offered anywhere else, as it focuses on scientific and intellectual inquiry at the graduate level specifically related to national parks. Although Park Break is open to graduate students of all backgrounds, an additional goal of the program is to provide minority students with experience in national parks in order to facilitate future careers in the field of parks and protected areas research and management.

Who’s eligible?

Graduate students (Ph.D. or Master’s level) who are studying in fields related to parks, protected areas, and cultural sites.  To be eligible, you must fall into one of the following categories:

• Have completed undergraduate degree and have been accepted into Master’s program
• Current Master’s degree candidate
• Have completed Master’s degree and have been accepted into PhD program
• Current PhD degree candidate (including ABDs)

Students must be currently enrolled at an institute of higher education in either the USA, Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean and actively pursuing a degree.  We regret that we cannot accept applications from students elsewhere.

What happens during the week?

Each Park Break is designed around a specific topic. Not only will you explore that topic in depth, you’ll see how it relates to the whole range of challenging issues facing park managers today.

A typical Park Break includes:

• Presentations by several top-level personnel at the park, such as the superintendent, assistant superintendent, division chiefs, resource managers, staff subject-matter experts (e.g., biologists, historians, etc.).
• Presentations by outside scientists/scholars who are currently working in the park.
• Presentations by local NGOs, elected officials, personnel from other parks, etc., who are working with the host park or on issues similar to those facing the host park.
• One or more field sessions in the park that illustrate the theme and issues being discussed.
• An excursion into the surrounding community to discuss relevant issues.

For more examples, check out the description of the most recent Park Breaks, held in 2012 at Delaware Warter Gap National Recreation Area and at three Boston-area national historical parks.

What’s expected of me?

Park Break is not just about a week in a park — it’s intended to create an ongoing community of motivated young professionals.  Aside from following the curriculum and activities outlined above, Park Break students are expected to read a packet of background materials before their arrival. Once in-park, you may be assigned a real-life management problem to contemplate during the week, and asked to prepare, as a team, a presentation on proposed solutions that you will offer to the park’s staff for discussion and feedback.

Many students who participate in the program document their experiences as part of the GWS’s Park Break Perspectives series, an online collection of papers that captures some of the challenges and rewards of the Park Break program.

Park Break puts you on the path to success

While Park Break is not an employment or internship program, you will be involved with agency personnel who are actively looking to recruit the best young people in the park professions. Several Park Breakers have been hired by the National Park Service and one by the U.S. Forest Service.  Other Park Break alums have embarked on Ph.D. programs.  Park Break makes you and your skills visible!

In addition, Park Break students receive preference for travel scholarships to attend the following George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites — the USA’s premier interdisciplinary professional meeting in the field.

Do I have to cover any costs?

Park Break is a fellowship, so all your direct costs — travel to and from the park, lodging and meals while in the park, and any required materials — are paid for.  You are responsible for any non-essential, discretionary expenses you may incur.  You also will need to supply common field gear that may be desirable for the session, such as backpacks, binoculars, cameras, foul-weather clothing, and so on.

Who are the organizers?

Park Break is organized by the National Park Service (through the host parks) and the U.S. Geological Survey in concert with the George Wright Society, the USA’s leading professional association for researchers, resource managers, administrators, educators, and other professionals who work in or on behalf of parks, protected areas, and cultural sites. GWS puts on Park Break in cooperation with several partners.  Past partners have included Colorado State University, Geological Society of America, Student Conservation Association, and Texas A&M University.

Sounds great!  How do I apply?

Fill out the online application form. The deadline for applications is January 7, 2014.