How Did I Get Here?

Jonathan Jarvis

Director, National Park Service
  • Education
  • Natural Bridge High School, Natural Bridge Station, Va., class of 1971
  • College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., class of 1975
  • Work Experience
  • 1971–75
    Maintenance mechanic and welder, Blue Bird
  • 1976–77
    Park ranger, National Mall and Memorial Parks
  • 1978–82
    Law enforcement ranger, Prince William Forest Park
  • 1982–86
    Park biologist, Crater Lake National Park
  • 1987–91
    Chief of natural and cultural resources, North Cascades National Park
  • 1994–2002
    Superintendent, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve; Mt. Rainier National Park
  • 2002–09
    Regional director, Pacific West, National Park Service
  • 2009–Present
    Director, National Park Service
  • Life Lessons
  • “Even though the odds are very low that you’ll be eaten, carry your bear spray.”
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  • “Treat all people with respect, particularly those you meet for the first time.”
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  • “Get outside. It’s good for you.”
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  • As a high school senior in 1970
  • “Go to findyourpark.com to plan your visit and see what your local park offers.”
  • “I worked summers at the school bus factory. The worst place to work was on the rivet line. The buses have about 10,000 rivets.”
  • “It’s a collapsed volcano that has a 2,000-foot-deep lake and averages 500 inches of snowfall a year.”
  • Getting a park ranger award in 1977
  • “The politics of Washington are a challenge at times, but the Park Service enjoys great support on both sides of the aisle.”
  • At Yosemite in 2010
  • “I shot competitive billiards.”
  • “I worked the Bicentennial Information Center and then the Jefferson Memorial, where I spent winters in the cold marble rotunda.”
  • “Wear light-colored clothing to protect you from the sun and keep you cool.”
  • “Wrangell-St. Elias is the same size as Switzerland.”
  • “We had fires burning in Yosemite, major flooding in Mt. Rainier, volcano eruptions in Hawaii, and dog walking at Golden Gate—that’s a perennial issue.”
  • With Bill Clinton at the Flight 93 National Memorial on Sept. 11, 2011
  • “Bring a backpack with hat, sunglasses, water, snacks, and a map of the park.”