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Job Title: Park Ranger
Type of Company: A South Carolina state park.
Education: MA, Marine Biology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Previous Experience: I worked at a couple of environmental education centers.
Job Tasks: I am a park ranger at Myrtle Beach State Park. My primary job responsibilities are presenting natural history programs to both the general public and to school groups. Some of the topics offered include crabbing, seining, sea turtles, sharks, pollution, coastal dynamics, bird watching, sea creatures, plankton and maritime forest walks. Most public programs last about 1 hour and school programs tend to last 2-3 hours. All school programs are curriculum-related and have both pre- and post- activities for the students to do in order to help better prepare them. The park also has a small nature center that has saltwater aquariums that are stocked with local sea life, local snakes and natural history displays of the park (seashells, sea creatures, sea turtles, maritime forest, whales and dolphins). The building is a great place for visitors to get their questions answered about the park. I also manage volunteers who help by picking up trash, performing trail maintenance, planting trees and plants, cleaning signs, helping with programs, gardening, and patrolling for sea turtle activity. I also help out with the resource management of the loggerhead sea turtles, patrolling for activity, finding eggs, relocating eggs, monitoring the nests, and performing inventories after the nests have hatched to learn how many hatched.
Best and Worst Parts of the Job: I love the fact that every day is totally different and I never quite know what to expect. Every program I teach is very different since the groups all bring a different feel to the program. I meet people from all over the world. Today we had visitors from Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Germany. Many aspects of my job require me to be outside.
The toughest thing is there are not enough staff and time to get all the projects completed. We don't have time to be bored!
Job Tips:
1. During college get to know your professors and find out how to participate in their projects.
2. Try to get jobs during the summer months that relate to your major. This is critical to help you figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are and to find out what you like and dislike.
3. Do as many internships as you can. It's the best type of job training there is.
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