Greetings from the Rocky Mountains.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Nick Bonzey. I'm a
Junior in the Ecology and Environmental Sciences program, and I'm
spending my summer in Yellowstone National Park. This summer I'm
taking field study credit for my time here, and as part of that
requirement, I'll be submitting weekly updates about my job and all
the nifty stuff that goes on in America's first national park.
Now, a little background. This is my second season working for the
Park Service. Last year I saw a post on a website (www.gjc.org) for
a Cartographic Technician for the NPS. I don't like to waste
opportunities, so I applied. I figured I didn't have an outside
chance of getting the job, especially since it was in Yellowstone
(what good outdoor geek doesn't want to spend a summer there?!) and
that there must be TONS of people more qualified than I. After many
phone calls, I discovered I was right. There were people more
qualified than I was, and I didn't get the job. However, a month
later, I received another phone call from my (soon-to-be) supervisor
asking if I was still interested. Well, of course. When can I
start?
A few weeks later I was in my car for a 2,600 mile trip straight
west.
Best. Summer. Ever.
I guess I did something right last summer, 'cause they invited me
back. The place was great, the people were great, the work was
satisfying (it was even in my field!), it paid well, and I got to
live in Yellowstone. So, here I am for another season.
This year I decided to take a bit of a scenic route to Wyoming. I
left Orono on the Wednesday of finals week (thanks to some
early-scheduled finals). I visited some friends in Ohio and took a
westerly course across the chewy nougat-filled middle portion of our
grand continent. I picked up a friend of mine in Colorado Springs,
and we took a 3-day tour of Southern Utah. Highest concentration of
National Parks in the country, and very much worth the detour. In 3
days, we visited Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Zion, and Death
Valley National Parks. From there, I traveled through central
California to the Pacific Ocean north of San Francisco. I hit up
Rt. 1 for about 100 miles along some of the most beautiful coast
I've seen since Maine. From there, I went northward to Portland, OR
where I picked up some friends and headed to Seattle to watch the
Mariners get beat down by the Red Sox (6-3 thanks to an 8th inning
grand slam by Trot Nixon). I headed east from there and, 12 days
and 5,600 miles later, rolled into Yellowstone last Monday.
I started work promptly Tuesday morning with a not-so-surprising
amount of meetings, seminars, paperwork, and more meetings. A
surprising amount of people do stupid things while working, so most
of it is safety training. Most of that is out of the way now, so I
can get onto the real work. As I mentioned, I work as a
Cartographic Technician for the Spatial Analysis Center in
Yellowstone National Park (http://www.nps.gov/yell/technical/gis/index.html).
Yeah, that's right...I make maps. It's my calling, and I answer it
whenever possible. We make maps for park researchers and
employees. Animal migration, wildfire and search and rescue
operations, bear closure areas, fishing restrictions...Just about
anything you can imagine.
There's a surprising amount of maps that get published every year,
and each one has its own requirements. A lot of fieldwork goes into
a lot of the data we collect, and that's what really makes this job
worth driving cross-country for. While most of my week is spend in
the office in front of a computer, I get to do a fair amount of
grunt-field-work. Yeah, I get paid to hike in Yellowstone.
This year I've been put in charge of the Utilities project in the
Spatial Analysis Center. I'm in charge of collecting data about
sewer, water, and electrical distribution systems within the park.
Now, just for some reference for those who have never visited
Yellowstone, the park is slightly smaller than New Jersey (2,219,791
acres). There are 16 inhabited areas in the park, all with their
own systems to map and catalogue. I work with several other
departments to get this all done, and everyone has their own needs
and desires for the final data. Yesterday, I completed training
some workers on how to use our GPS equipment and next week we start
our fieldwork.
I'll be taking pictures and keeping a weekly log about my happenings
all summer long. It should be a very photogenic summer, and
hopefully I can take a few frame-worthy pictures.
Thanks for reading!
Nick Bonzey
nbonzey@gmail.com
