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Visitor Services & Interpretation Technician

The Great Basin Institute, in cooperation with the National Park Service (Olympic National Park), is recruiting three (3) full-time (40 hours/week) Visitor Services & Interpretation Technicians (VSITs) to serve as frontline representatives of Olympic National Park and provide customer service, orientation, information, and/or interpretation to diverse park visitors at busy front country locations. Current areas of recruitment at Olympic include: Hoh Rain Forest, Kalaloch Coast, and Lake Crescent.
 
As an integral part of the park’s Division of Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers, VSITs engage with visitors in formal (e.g. regularly-scheduled interpretive programs) and informal (e.g. visitor center or field) settings to provide the appropriate level of service to meet visitor needs and interests. Ultimately, VSITs facilitate opportunities for visitors to connect personally to the intangible meanings of park resources, fostering stewardship for resource protection and preservation, and open dialogue around some of the most critical social and environmental issues that challenge us all.
 
Primary duties include:
  • Function as part of a diverse park team including NPS staff, volunteers, interns, partners, and others in the daily operation of an operational area.
  • Inform and educate diverse visitors about park rules and regulations, history, culture, nature, recreation opportunities, and safety.
  • Staff ranger station or visitor center information desk to provide informal orientation, information, and/or interpretive services.
  • Perform point-of-sales operations at Discover Your Northwest cooperating association bookstore outlets.
  • Research, develop, and present formal interpretive programs and products to diverse visitor audiences that have traditionally included (but are not limited to): weekly campfire programs (usually about an hour-long, and presented at park campground amphitheaters), 1-2 times/week; guided walks or hikes (about 1-2 hours) a couple times per week; and more frequent interpretive talks, pop-ups, and more.
  • Rove park trails and/or other outdoor areas and facilities to provide visitors with informal orientation, information, and/or interpretive services; monitor resource conditions, and visitor safety and compliance with park regulations.
  • Administer the park’s popular B.A.R.K. Ranger, Junior Ranger, and Ocean Stewards programs to young visitors/audiences.
  • Assist with various office/administrative projects.
  • Respond to visitor inquiries by phone, mail, and/or email.
  • Operate handheld radios in accordance with NPS regulations.
  • Respond to and/or assist with emergencies (to the level of individual training).