{"id":170603,"date":"2025-09-25T11:27:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T15:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=170603"},"modified":"2025-11-11T09:00:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T14:00:39","slug":"as-a-seasonal-park-ranger-tess-black-20-educates-visitors-on-the-beauty-importance-of-americas-national-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2025\/09\/25\/as-a-seasonal-park-ranger-tess-black-20-educates-visitors-on-the-beauty-importance-of-americas-national-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"On a purposeful path: Park ranger Tess Black \u201920 builds a career in America\u2019s national parks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Perched on the edge of a boat gliding smoothly out of sunny Northeast Harbor, Maine, Tess Black \u201920 commands the attention of the dozens of visitors to Acadia National Park seated around her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, we are heading out into the great harbor of Mount Desert Island,” Black says. \u201cThis is one of thousands of harbors you will find here off of the coast of Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

This Bates News story is the first in an ongoing series on how Bates graduates are finding purpose in their lives and careers<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

She is dressed in the muted green uniform emblematic of National Park System rangers, complete with a flat-brimmed hat that she holds securely to her head against the September sea breeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaving
Passengers on the Sea Princess cruise look on in wonder while park ranger Tess Black \u201920 shares lessons on Acadia National Park, as the boat glides through the harbor of Mount Desert Island. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Black\u2019s ninth season working as a park ranger and her second in Acadia National Park, where she gives guided boat tours, leads hikes, and greets visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aboard the Sea Princess boat tour that she leads each Tuesday morning, she\u2019s part naturalist, part tour guide, and part comedian, directing attendees where to look using clock positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho here has seen an analog clock before?\u201d Black says, fielding laughter (and nods) from the day\u2019s audience of mostly older adults, plus one baby. \u201cVery good. The front of the boat is going to be our 12 o’clock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her passengers likely can\u2019t tell that public speaking is not something that comes naturally to Black, but rather a skill she\u2019s honed while working at parks around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After learning to love the outdoors at summer camp in Michigan, Black, who grew up in Los Angeles, was determined to find a job that allowed her to \u201cspend as much time as possible outside.\u201d She got her start interning in Zion National Park before her junior year at Bates, where she majored in environmental studies with a minor in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaving
Tess Black \u201920, a park ranger with Acadia National Park, in Northeast Harbor before the Tuesday morning boat tour she leads. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For her internship, which was funded by Bates\u2019 Center for Purposeful Work, Black worked in Zion\u2019s interpretation division, comprised of the rangers who greet visitors and offer educational programming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a great example of the Purposeful Work model in action,\u201d says Allen Delong, the senior associate dean and director for graduate and professional school advising at the Center for Purposeful Work. \u201cWe work with students as they explore their strengths and interests on campus in leadership roles, and off-campus through experiential opportunities like this one, all of which informs their future choices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Zion, Black\u2019s role included giving public talks about geology and park history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was really afraid of public speaking at that time,\u201d Black says. \u201cI was like, \u2018I don’t know if I can do this.\u2019 And then I realized I didn’t have a choice, so I just bit the bullet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With practice, Black overcame her fear and became dedicated to sharing the beauty of the National Park System with visitors. Since graduating from Bates in 2020, she has consistently worked seasonal jobs as a ranger, moving about every six months to work in Acadia, Yellowstone, Death Valley, Canyonlands, Denali, and Saguaro National Parks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Canyonlands and Denali, Black was a backcountry park ranger, spending days at a time backpacking alone through the wilderness to advise hikers, issue permits, and occasionally conduct search-and-rescue operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is truly the job,\u201d Black says. \u201cYou get paid to go backpacking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaving
Tess Black \u201920 and passengers head back to the Sea Princess boat after stopping in Isleford on Little Cranberry Island, where visitors browsed the history museum and walked around the small island. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite its perks, a park ranger\u2019s job is not without the occasional brush with the elements. Severe flooding closed Yellowstone and Death Valley while Black was working at each respective park. She was working in Denali\u2019s Backcountry Information Center during the 2025 Riley Fire, which burned more than 400 acres of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was blankly staring out the window, and then my eyes adjusted,\u201d Black says. \u201cI realized, \u2018That hillside’s on fire.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, the fires and floods didn\u2019t harm her, and neither did the curious bear who approached her tent as she was camping alone in Canyonlands. From inside her tent, Black heard what she thought was a person creeping suspiciously close and clutched her satellite phone, prepared to contact park headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery step it made, the ground beneath me would reverberate,\u201d Black says. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, no, this is bigger than a person.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She made noise to ward off the bear, and it quickly left, leaving but a few pawprints outside her tent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After spending four years out west, enmeshed in that landscape, where she might be lugging gallons of water into the desert or floating down the Colorado River, in May, Black returned to her favorite national park: Acadia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt felt like it was time to come back,\u201d Black says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaving
In Northeast Harbor, Tess Black \u201920 welcomes passengers onto the Sea Princess cruise, clutching maps of Acadia National Park that she’ll distribute to visitors. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When she decided that she wanted to return, Black reached out to Kathy Grant, a supervisory park ranger in Acadia who had been Black\u2019s supervisor during the summer 2021 season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe taught me kind of everything I know,\u201d Black says. \u201cShe is the big reason that I am the employee for the parks and the person I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant quickly saw Black\u2019s potential for leadership and success as a ranger, she says. She welcomed Black back to Acadia with open arms and even promoted her, allowing Black to take more responsibility in planning her park programming and expanding future job opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI continued to follow her career as she took on a variety of roles in parks across the country,\u201d Grant says. \u201cAdapting to a new park every six months is not easy \u2014 it demands resilience, initiative, and a strong capacity to learn quickly. Tess consistently demonstrated those qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black has spent the majority of this summer season confidently leading large crowds through outdoor programs, like the nearly three-hour boat tour out of Northeast Harbor. As the Sea Princess boat glides between islands, Black shares lessons she wrote herself on park history, lighthouses, geology, and marine life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tours are often sold out, and attendees on this late summer day engage closely, peppering Black with questions and comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She pauses to point out wildlife, like a perched osprey and a seal peering up through blue waters. Black calls her audience\u2019s attention to a moose statue \u2014 telling them it is likely the only moose visitors will see in Acadia, which, to many tourists\u2019 surprise, is not in the animals\u2019 natural range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaving
Sea Princess cruise passengers caught a glimpse of an osprey perched in a nest high above Acadia National Park. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Black doesn\u2019t take herself too seriously, especially when she\u2019s working to get the attention of kids onboard. She makes references to beloved animated show SpongeBob SquarePant<\/em>s, which was inspired by writer Stephen Hillenburg\u2019s time as a cook at a restaurant in Islesford, where the boat tour makes a stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, a stuffed SpongeBob toy is \u201ctrapped\u201d in a lobster trap hanging from the boat\u2019s ceiling. Black uses the trap and a bright red lobster prop \u2014 matching her dangle lobster earrings \u2014 to demonstrate how lobsters are caught, as real lobster boats idle in the water nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing a park ranger is silly in a good way,\u201d Black says. \u201cI’ve become a lot less serious over the years, while still maintaining professionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaving
Tess Black \u201920 speaks to passengers on a sold-out boat tour. At center, hanging from the ceiling, is a lobster trap that Black uses to demonstrate how lobsters are caught. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The boat navigates between colorful buoys and sailboats to stop at Little Cranberry Island. Visitors walk around and browse through the island\u2019s history museum, giving Black a moment to rest her voice before resuming her program on the ride back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black, now with years of public speaking experience, is quick to improvise and read her audience, knowing when to add a joke and when to stick to the facts based on how attendees are responding. Sometimes, however, she sticks her neck out for a laugh with a corny joke, and no one responds. Learning to brush that off is just part of the job, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve learned that I can do a lot of really uncomfortable things and be okay,\u201d Black says. \u201cIt’s really okay to try new things and put yourself on the line. I don’t fear being embarrassed anymore. I have to make myself vulnerable for this job, and I\u2019ve embraced that over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she\u2019s not leading a boat tour or hike, Black works at the visitor center information desk. Here, she gets to know some of the youngest visitors through the Junior Ranger program, which rewards kids who take a pledge to keep themselves and the parks safe with a badge denoting Junior Ranger status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose interactions are some of my favorites because those are the future stewards of these parks,\u201d Black says. \u201cOne day, they’re going to be adults, and they’re going to have, hopefully, the same excitement about helping to protect these places.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaving
Tess Black \u201920 leaves Northeast Harbor after a lively morning boat tour. Soon, she’ll leave Acadia National Park for another national park, in the Virgin Islands. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In October, Black will leave Acadia for her next adventure in the Virgin Islands National Park. She envisions herself continuing to work in the park system for the foreseeable future, educating visitors on the wonder of America\u2019s natural beauty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a seasonal park ranger, Tess Black \u201920 educates park visitors on the beauty and importance of the National Park System.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1827,"featured_media":170607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1,232],"tags":[3125,11532,11177],"class_list":["post-170603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews","category-environment-sustainability","tag-ecoreps","tag-green-innovation-grants","tag-tom-twist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170603"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170717,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170603\/revisions\/170717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}