Park Naturalist Plan, develop, and conduct programs to inform public of historical, natural, and scientific features of national, state, or local park.
Park Naturalist is Also Know as
In different settings, Park Naturalist is titled as
- Environmental Education Specialist
- Environmental Educator
- Interpretive Naturalist
- Natural Resource Educator
- Naturalist
- Park Activities Coordinator
- Park Guide
- Park Interpretive Specialist
- Park Naturalist
- Park Ranger
Education and Training of Park Naturalist
Park Naturalist is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Park Naturalist
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Education Required for Park Naturalist
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Degrees Related to Park Naturalist
- Bachelor in Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- Associate Degree Courses in Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- Masters Degree Courses in Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- Bachelor in Range Science and Management
- Associate Degree Courses in Range Science and Management
- Masters Degree Courses in Range Science and Management
- Bachelor in Natural Resources/Conservation, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Natural Resources/Conservation, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Natural Resources/Conservation, General
- Bachelor in Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Pol
- Associate Degree Courses in Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Pol
- Masters Degree Courses in Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Pol
- Bachelor in Water, Wetlands, and Marine Resources Management
- Associate Degree Courses in Water, Wetlands, and Marine Resources Management
- Masters Degree Courses in Water, Wetlands, and Marine Resources Management
- Bachelor in Land Use Planning and Management/Development
- Associate Degree Courses in Land Use Planning and Management/Development
- Masters Degree Courses in Land Use Planning and Management/Development
Training Required for Park Naturalist
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Park Naturalist in different industries are
- Tour Guides and Escorts
- Forest and Conservation Technicians
- Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary
- Historians
- Recreation Workers
- Conservation Scientists
- Fish and Game Wardens
- Range Managers
- Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
- Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
- Foresters
- Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary
- Environmental Restoration Planners
- Geographers
- Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare
- Farm and Home Management Educators
- Instructional Coordinators
- Urban and Regional Planners
- Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists
What Do Park Naturalist do?
- Provide visitor services, such as explaining regulations, answering visitor requests, needs and complaints, and providing information about the park and surrounding areas.
- Conduct field trips to point out scientific, historic, and natural features of parks, forests, historic sites, or other attractions.
- Prepare and present illustrated lectures and interpretive talks about park features.
- Perform emergency duties to protect human life, government property, and natural features of park.
- Confer with park staff to determine subjects and schedules for park programs.
- Assist with operations of general facilities, such as visitor centers.
- Plan, organize and direct activities of seasonal staff members.
- Perform routine maintenance on park structures.
- Prepare brochures and write newspaper articles.
- Construct historical, scientific, and nature visitor-center displays.
- Research stories regarding the area's natural history or environment.
- Interview specialists in desired fields to obtain and develop data for park information programs.
- Compile and maintain official park photographic and information files.
- Take photographs and motion pictures for use in lectures and publications and to develop displays.
- Survey park to determine forest conditions and distribution and abundance of fauna and flora.
- Plan and develop audio-visual devices for public programs.
- Plan and organize public events at the park.
- Develop environmental educational programs and curricula for schools.
- Train staff on park programs.
- Provide care for park program animals.
Qualities of Good Park Naturalist
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Park Naturalist
- All-terrain vehicles ATV
- Animal trapping equipment
- Augers
- Automated external defibrillators AED
- Backpack tanks
- Boat trailers
- Brush cutters
- Canoes
- Chainsaws
- Claw hammers
- Computer laser printers
- Digital still cameras
- Digital video cameras
- Drip torches
- Dump trucks
- Electronic cash registers
- Emergency medical first aid kits
- Fire rakes
- Fire swatters
- Fishing poles
- Forest fire shovels
- Four wheel drive 4WD vehicles
- Global positioning system GPS devices
- Hand pruners
- Hand rakes
- High-pressure pumper units
- Horse bridles
- Horse reins
- Horse saddles
- Horse trailers
- Kayaks
- Law enforcement handguns
- Leaf blowers
- Light pickup trucks
- Line trimmers
- Mobile radios
- Mountain bikes
- Multiline telephone systems
- Multipurpose pliers
- Multipurpose shovels
- Multipurpose tractors
- Passenger vans
- Patrol motorboats
- Personal computers
- Phillips screwdrivers
- Point of sale POS computer terminals
- Pontoon boats
- Power mowers
- Snow skis
- Straight screwdrivers
- Surveillance binoculars
- Survey levels
- Survey transits
- Tanker trucks
- Utility knives
- Water testing kits
- Weed sprayers
- Wood chippers
- Work vans
Technology Skills required for Park Naturalist
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe PageMaker
- Email software
- Mapping software
- MicroFocus GroupWise
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Point of sale POS software
- Web browser software
- Word processing software