What if your future job included hiking through the Rocky Mountains, spotting wildlife like black bears and mountain lions, exploring alpine tundra ecosystems, and sharing incredible stories with visitors from around the world? What if your career allowed you to travel to different national parks across the country while working outside in some of the most beautiful places in the United States?
In this presentation, Park Ranger Ashley Jacobson from Rocky Mountain National Park gives a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like to work for the National Park Service. Ashley shares how a passion for the outdoors, history, wildlife, and science turned into a career helping protect and interpret one of America’s most iconic national parks. Being a park ranger is much more than wearing a uniform — it’s about learning the stories of the land, understanding ecosystems and wildlife, helping people connect with nature, and protecting these places for future generations.
Travel through thousands of years of Rocky Mountain history, from ancient Paleo-Indian hunters and Indigenous tribes like the Arapaho, Ute, and Cheyenne, to gold miners, ranchers, and the conservationists who helped create the park in 1915. Learn about the park’s incredible ecosystems, including alpine tundra, forests, rivers, and mountain habitats that support animals like elk, moose, black bears, and mountain lions. Ashley also explains real challenges facing national parks today, including climate change and protecting fragile ecosystems from damage.
Ashley shares why careers with the National Park Service can be both adventurous and meaningful for people who love being outdoors. One of the most exciting parts of the job is the opportunity to move between parks throughout a career — spending a few years in the Rocky Mountains before heading to deserts, forests, coastlines, or even Alaska. From wildlife biology and conservation to interpretation and outdoor education, these careers combine travel, science, adventure, teamwork, and purpose while allowing you to work in places most people only get to visit on vacation.