By Karen Povey, WNPF Board of Directors
Cat Burleaud, originally from Southlake, Texas, wouldn’t have dared to imagine that her 2019 internship at Mount Rainier National Park would open the door to a burgeoning career with the National Park Service.
As a University of North Texas geology major with a background in astronomy and interest in working with a national park, Cat was prompted to apply for the park’s summer Night Skies intern position to fulfill a graduation requirement. Today she’s a permanent member of the park’s interpretation staff, educating guests in visitor centers and serving as a park rover. “I applied, got the internship, and haven’t left since!” she marvels.
For many National Park Service interns, these seasonal positions provide a critical “foot in the door” that ultimately leads to full-time employment, like it did for Cat.
This has proven especially true for the Night Skies internship program. Funded by your donations to Washington’s National Park Fund, this internship provides college students with experience presenting Mount Rainier’s popular astronomy program, helping park guests peer beyond our planet during summers at Paradise.
You might be surprised to learn that the National Park Service (NPS) is committed to safeguarding the darkness of night skies as a resource as important as wilderness landscapes and historic park structures.
NPS’ Night Skies initiative recognizes the role that darkness plays in the lives of nocturnal wildlife as well as the cultural value of nighttime conditions free of human-caused light.
The Night Skies interns emphasize darkness as a cultural resource, encouraging park guests to consider how the skies help us connect to the past. As Cat explains:
We want people to be able to connect not only with the night sky itself, but with generations past of folks who have been able to look up and see the Milky Way and the constellations. And we want to make sure we preserve that so generations to come can also see that and understand how special and important it is.”
Since Cat’s internship tenure, two other Night Skies interns have joined the team: Andrea Minot in 2021 and Katie Copeland in 2022. Andrea also gained a staff position after completing her internship, and Katie hopes to return this year. During daylight hours all three support education efforts throughout the park, but nighttime finds them teaming up to share the wonder of the stars with nearly 200 people on the busiest nights.
Katie, a geology major who worked at her college’s planetarium, especially delights in giving guests insight into what most of us take for granted. “When someone sees the Milky Way for the first time, or they see a shooting star across the sky for the first time and there’s this big outburst of oohs and ahhs from the audience because they’ve seen something really cool – it’s an awesome experience every time,” she says.
Much of Andrea’s passion for science and astronomy was cultivated through visits to science museums or her own explorations in nature. She loves that the Night Sky program offers the sort of non-threatening learning that takes place in a less structured environment.
“I think that is very important for people of all ages to experience. And our Night Sky programs are really good at cultivating that open, collaborative sort of environment where people can learn in a situation that isn’t necessarily sitting down, taking a test, and being graded. So, I would hope that people can walk away with an understanding that learning can be fun.”
That fun extends to the naming of the program’s telescopes, explains Katie. “We have Big Bertha who is our 14-inch, and medium Michael who is the 10-inch. And we also have Nameless Nancy, who is our smaller telescope.”
Presenting a program that appeals to kids is a key part of the interns’ role. From pointing out constellations and sharing their folklore to providing a glimpse of the rings of Saturn, says Cat, “it’s important for young people to participate in the Night Sky program. To have that sense of wonder and appreciation instilled at a young age so that as they grow up, that’s something that maybe they want to explore more and be able to have an appreciation for years to come. And then hopefully one day they bring their kids to programs and just continue that generational appreciation for the dark night skies.”
And it’s not just kids that are awed by the amazing celestial sights. Cat relays one memorable guest interaction. “During my internship in 2019, we had a beautiful, clear, dark night, with no moon. You could see everything. And a woman came up to me and she was like, ‘I’ve waited 40 years to see the Milky Way in my life. And I came here just so I could see the Milky Way, and I want to thank you so much for giving me that opportunity.’ And I was floored to think that somebody who had not been able to see these skies that we get to see all the time traveled a long way to experience that with us.”
As our night skies are increasingly threatened by human-caused light pollution, opportunities to experience this awe have become fewer. But on summer nights at Paradise, the Night Skies team is on the job, facilitating the same wonder for the stars and planets today that has inspired our ancestors for millennia.
While helping visitors find this new way to fall in love with their park, the interns also credit the program with helping them fall in love with the work, charting a course for a rewarding career. “I’ve learned so much already,” explains Katie. “Being here, I feel a lot more confident in speaking to people and some of these scientific topics, especially conveying scientific messages to the public, which is something I’m really interested in and really passionate about.”
“This program started my career here at the National Park Service,” says Cat, “and I hope to be in this career for a long time.” We hope they are, too.
You can help support programs like this one in Washington’s national parks by donating to Washington’s National Park Fund, the official philanthropic partner to Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. With your help, we raise private support to preserve and protect Washington’s national parks, funding scientific research, youth and family experiences, and projects that will keep these parks strong and vital now and forever, for everyone.
About the Author: Karen Povey, Former Conservation Engagement Manager for Metro Parks Tacoma, is a zoologist, educator, writer, and conservationist. Find more of Karen’s work at www.wonderwildcreative.com.
Editor’s Note: This article also appeared in National Parks Traveler.
Cover photo: Mount Rainier captured by WNPF Creative Partner John Chao.