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On this episode of the Park Leaders Show, James Fester, an educator, part-time volunteer, and Google-certified innovator, discusses park-based learning and its place in the classroom. When people think of parks, they often don’t think of education. As a result, many schools lack awareness of educational resources provided by county, state, and national parks. To […]

What are people looking for in the outdoors? Public spaces are becoming more culturally diverse and the parks services, resources, facilities, etc need to reflect these changes. Recent graduates are also facing different challenges in the parks recreation and tourism management field these days. For example, drones are now a thing to have to consider. […]

Leadership is not black and white. Once you have a leadership position, most of the decisions and situations you face will not be clear-cut or obvious on what you should do. Not black and white situations. Most leaders how to operate in the gray areas. If you have set your operation up correctly, black and […]

This episode is the start of something special. Phil Gaines, retired Director of South Carolina State Parks, is going to be a semi-regular guest co-host on the Park Leaders Show. When parks lose a long-time leader like Phil, we lose so much knowledge and experience. By finding new ways to continue to bring past experiences […]

When someone visits a park and they are curious, what is the first thing they want to do? Ask a ranger. Park Rangers are icons of parks and one of the reasons people enjoy talking with Rangers is because they can answer your questions about nature. Now, you no longer have to seek out a […]

On this episode of the Park Leaders Show, we explore maritime archeology with Denise Jaffke Denise as an Archeologist with California State Parks who is currently working on creating the Emerald Bay Maritime Heritage Trail. Parks play a role in putting together pieces of historical puzzles through archeology. Add water, and there is a new layer […]

To build a solid career, you need to build a solid network of peers, associates, and friends. A strong leader has a strong network. Dylan Mroszcyk-McDonald returns to the Park Leaders Show to continue our series on leadership and culture in parks. On this episode, we focus on building a network and how it can […]

In parks, we have spread the myth of a lone heroic leader at the top. We give special attention and privilege to someone with a leadership title. If it takes a hero to lead people, it moves leadership out of the reach of most people. As leaders, we need to remember the person is more important than […]

After 37 years with South Carolina State Parks, Phil Gaines retired as Director. As Phil did during his entire career, he used his last day to lead by example. On August 2, 2018, exactly 13 years after becoming Director of South Carolina State Parks, and exactly 37 years after starting his career as a park […]

Podcasts with Park Rangers is a podcast featuring conversations with Park Rangers from National Parks around the country. Lucas and Sarah Villa-Kainec are the hosts of the podcast Podcasts with Park Rangers. We sat down together at a picnic table in Fort Worden State Park. In this episode, we discuss their podcast, traveling across the […]