Albright-Wirth Grant Program Award Recipients Named

The Albright-Wirth grant is one of the most sought after learning and development opportunities in the National Park Service.  The grant program is managed by the, WASO Capital Training Center, located in Washington, D.C.  The National Park Service in partnership with the National Park Foundation administers and funds the Horace M. Albright-Conrad L. Wirth Grant Program.  The Albright-Wirth grant funds innovative training opportunities for NPS employees to pursue personal and professional training experiences anywhere in the world. 

In 2008 NPS program participation was high – the program’s panelists reviewed 188 applications, requesting in excess of $897,656 in funding.  Twelve panelists convened in order to provide a thorough and fair evaluation of the applicant pool.  The grant reviewers represented diverse career fields, regions, and multicultural populations.  The reviewers were divided into two different panels. The first panel, comprised of field level employees, reviewed all of the grant proposals and presented the highest rated proposals to the second panel, the managers’ review.   Both panels reviewed and rated applications in accordance with an established rating criterion and together they conducted evaluations and scoring of all applicant proposals.   The Capital Training Center as a result is pleased to announce the final 26 FY 2009 Albright-Wirth Grant recipient awards, totaling $126,459.39.  Awards are as follows:

David Henderson, Yosemite National Park, (3) Park Rangers TBD NPS Service-Wide $14,635 

This group project proposes a three phase plan to provide National Park Service employees with much needed basic Spanish language skills. The plan will provide for clearer communication between rangers and the Spanish speaking public visiting Yosemite National Park, enhance visitor experience and ranger safety while facilitating improved resource protection by providing a much needed language resource skill to law enforcement field rangers.

Phase 1 Introductory Spanish for Park Rangers.   This training will be for twenty six (26) National Park Service Rangers. (15 from Yosemite National Park and 11 from other National Parks or monuments nationwide.) The training consists of a five day, forty hour course.

Phase 2: Spanish Language and Mexican Culture Immersion in Oaxaca, Mexico Three Yosemite National Park Rangers who have taken initiative to elevate their Spanish language skills will study at the Becari Language School in Oaxaca, Mexico for two weeks.

Phase 3: Continuing Education. This component will utilize the Rosetta Stone language training software. The Rosetta Stone program is a highly successful program currently in use with the Peace Corps, US State Department and US Armed Forces. The purchase of two (2) sets of the Rosetta Stone CD-ROM Classroom Editions will provide Yosemite National Park rangers with shared access to this Spanish training program.

Michael Fernalld, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, $2,399

Mr. Fernalld plans to complete six online courses throughout the year to obtain my Advanced Certificate in Paralegal Studies.  This will entail taking a required six advanced special subject matter courses online through The Center for Legal Studies the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Each subject matter course is seven weeks long for a total of forty two weeks of training. 

Alison Forrestel, Point Reyes National Seashore,  $5,000

Doctoral study of the landscape scale fire ecology and fire history of Crater Lake National Park.  This project seeks to provide baseline information on landscape scale fire ecology of high elevation forests on the western side of Crater Lake National Park (CRLA). Crater Lake is unique amongst the heavily fragmented and logged forests of the Cascades in that the park protects a continuous, unlogged gradient of forest types from dry, low elevation ponderosa pine forest up to the subalpine forests found at the timberline. In spite of the ecological significance of these forests, their fire ecology is not well understood. While some stand level analysis of fire history has been done at CRLA, there has been no landscape level analysis of fire history and fire ecology. Particularly in the subalpine forest types, the historic role of fire is not well understood.

Garrett, Brian, John Muir National Historic Site, $3,500

Mr. Garrett will attend training and testing to acquire a California Class A license.  The training will enable him to operate transport equipment used in four park operations areas such as earth moving equipment, hazard fuel reduction equipment, man lifts, etc.

Gary Horne, Ron Lawson, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, $9,990

The goal of this group project is to develop NPS employees  of Gary Horn and Ron Lawson as IT professionals and to augment their daily responsibilities to the Park and NPS domain by obtaining IT credentials through Microsoft.  They will reach this goal by attending a three-certification boot camp - MCP, MCSA: Windows Server 2003, and CompTIA Security.  Boot camps are very intensive training programs lasting nine to ten days, 10-12 hours per day, and include multiple exams.  This training and the MCP member access to Microsoft tech sites, we will improve skills to support users and to maintain and secure our park network.

Bobby Sanders, Mammoth Cave National Park,  $3,380

Mr. Sanders will attend training classes for GEM ( Global Electric Motorcar) repair and service electric vehicles in the Park Service.  The training develops skills to diagnosis and repair electric powered vehicles. This training class involves vehicle operation, diagnosis and repair, electrical system, maintenance items, software, schematics, monthly service such as a 25pt inspection, and installations of soft weather enclosures, hard doors and optional accessories.

Mary Jo Shreffler, Big Cypress National Preserve

Ms. Shreffler will attend a Spanish immersion class in Costa Rica. Costa Rice’s location represents well the culture and ethnicity of the area around Big Cypress National Preserve and provides her the opportunity to study abroad and learn Spanish quickly and efficiently. The four week program involves living with a host family, and immersing one’s self in the Hispanic and Latino culture.

Kathleen Williams, Pacific West Regional Office

Ms. Williams will attend ITIL training and certification covering change and configuration management (ITIL is the Information Technology Infrastructure Library -- an internationally recognized collection of best practices for managing IT). Use of this knowledge will improve IT operations at both the regional and national level.  The knowledge gained will fulfill a personal interest in the subjects and will let Kathleen help the Pacific West Region and the NPS implement effective change and configuration management. It will also enhance her career advancement.

Michael Yochim, Yellowstone National Park, $2,820

Funds from this grant will be used to complete a book about Yellowstone's winter use history and provide for associated conference travel.  Utilizing grant funds Mr. Yochiml will finalize the manuscript, currently entitled "Snowmobiling in Wonderland," for publication and also support his travel to the George Wright Society conference to present his findings.

Christine Arato, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, $2,228

Ms. Arato  will study Spanish in a full-immersion program at an academy in Cuenca, Ecuador at the Simon Bolivar Spanish School. This four week intensive language study program includes lessons with specialized vocabulary in historic architecture and urban landscapes. The program of study includes four hours of group instruction per day, as well as two to three individual lessons each week in order to practice with an instructor in the field. Field trips would traverse Cuenca's historic neighborhoods in order to focus on historic architectural vocabulary and history.

Sharon Greener, Effigy Mounds National Monument, $5,000

Ms. Greener will acquire a Mid-Career Museum Professional Certification from the Campbell Center, Mt. Carroll, IL. The Campbell Center currently offers a certificate program in Collections Care. The certificate program gives professional recognition to those students who complete the required coursework for a specific level of certification. Three levels offered are: beginning, mid-career, and senior. Sharon looks to complete the second level of professional museum certification offered by the well-respected Campbell Center for Historic Preservation Studies.

Bryan Hamilton, Great Basin National Park, $5,000

Mr. Hamilton will pursue a Ph.D, to continue examination of the ecology of small mammal communities in Great Basin National Park. The title of his dissertation is, "Using Stable Isotopes to Study the Relationship between Small Mammal Abundance and Water Use within areas of Great Basin National Park Susceptible to Groundwater Withdrawal."

Sterling Holdorf, Rocky Mountain National Park, $5,000

Funds for this proposal will allow Mr. Holdorf  to complete an on-line certificate program in historic preservation through Bucks County Community College in Newtown, PA.  The certificate program consists of 24 academic credits and all classes are available on line which that allows him to continue working full time while he pursues his academic goals during evenings and weekends.

Bryant Horvat, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, $3,600

Mr. Horvat will participate in the NPS Basic Technical Rescue Training at Canyonlands NP, Moab, UT. This basic rescue training is taught by highly experienced instructors in the technical search and rescue world. He will acquire the latest knowledge and skills to perform realistic risk assessments and the ability to complete difficult technical rescues.   This 40 hour training session is the prerequisite training course to more advanced rescue courses that he will qualify for in the future.

Heather Jensen, Point Reyes National Seashore, $5,000

Five professional and technician level Fish and Wildlife Branch staff from Redwood National Park are to attend the 2009 Wildlife Society (a professional organization for wildlife biologists) national conference.  The conference is pertinent to many important wildlife management issues in Redwood National park and will greatly enhance the staff's professional capacity.

Karen Bradford, Grad Canyon National Park, $5,000

Mr. Bradford is to be assigned via a detail as an assistant to a Special Agent.  Her shadow detail with a Special Agent at Yellowstone National Park will allow her to obtain experience in the field of criminal investigations learning how to conduct investigations into criminal activities, how to write search warrants, and warrants for arrests of suspects.

Carol Clark, Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve, $4840

Ms. Clack  will work with a new international park partner, the Shackles of Memory Association (Les Anneaux de la Mémoire, in Nantes, France) to design two wayside exhibit panels and an educational curriculum about the international slave trade. The project will give her the opportunity to improve her French speaking skills through a language immersion experience in Nantes, France, while working with the association on interpretive products for certification and publication.

Howard Eldredge, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, $4,500

Mr. Eldredge will travel to and Howard will travel Sweden to research newly-discovered materials relating to the early natural history collections from the Channel Islands and the founding of Sequoia National Park.  He will also research two important collections and explore the Eisen papers in Stockholm.  He will also to survey the natural history collections from the Channel Islands at Uppsala University.  These recent collections have never been studied and are sure to provide invaluable information on the natural history of the Channel Islands.

Peter Fonken, Grand Canyon National Park, $5,000

Mr. Fonken will attend an intensive language school in Italy and gain fluency in the Italian language through immersion study at an intensive language school in Italy. Language study in Italy will increase my knowledge of other languages, countries and cultures. Additionally, he hopes to be able to use his increased fluency to learn more about Italian national parks and possibly even facilitate a ranger exchanges.

Deirdre Hanners. Grand Canyon National Park, $5,000

Ms. Hanners will enroll and attend classes at Utah State University's College of Natural Resources in cooperation with The Shipley Group.  Completion of designated classes will lead to a graduate certificate in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  The certificate program includes eight, one-unit courses, and the undertaking of a capstone experience in the form of a negotiated project, an internship or a comprehensive examination.

Naomi Kroll, Boston Support Office, $4,936

Ms. Kroll will travel to The Netherlands and France to study and document Edison-concept concrete housing constructed in the early twentieth century in Pennsylvania.  In combination with her investigations of Edison's New Jersey houses, this research will result in a catalog of the concrete houses and an exhibition on the topic at Edison National Historic Site.

Kendell Thompson, Park Ranger, Mary Troy, Curator, Emily Wesner, Park Ranger/Historian Arlington House, Robert E. Lee National Memorial National, $13,945

A three member park service team will research the lives of the Burkes, a family enslaved at Arlington House and set free by the owner and builder, George Washington Parke Custis. This project consists of two phases the first phase involves primary source research at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond VA, which will prepare the researchers for the second phase of the project, a trip to Monrovia, Liberia to further explore and research the fate of the Burke family, illuminating the slave story from a new angle. Following the research, a report will be produced that will serve as the basis for interpretive training material, new exhibits, web building activities and may be developed as a cooperative association sales item 

Jon Jokiel, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, $5,000

Mr. Jokiel will attend and complete a Masters of Science in Resource Interpretation from Stephen F. Austin State University. The program is a partnership between The Arthur Temple College of Forestry and the National Park Service. Overview: This is a 30-hour degree program’s instruction is delivered via the Internet and includes use of webpages, email, chat rooms, streaming audio and video, discussion boards, and online library access. With access to the Internet I hope to accomplish my degree via distance learning.

Edith Roudebush, George Washington Memorial Parkway, $5,000

Mr. Roudebush will take business courses at the University of Maryland University College, Shady Grove, MD, campus in conjunction with online course work. Completing this accredited university course work will support his getting a Contracting Warrant and becoming a warranted Contracting Officer in the National Park Service.

Norman Johnson, Grand Canyon National Park, $5,000

Mr. Johnson, currently an automotive servicer, will register with Mastery Technologies and via online and correspondences courses that will prepare him to take ASE certification tests from The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. Completion of the training supports his ultimate goal of becoming an automotive mechanic.

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The Albright-Wirth Grant program is made possible because of the National Park Foundation and generous gift from the John D. Rockefeller Family whose family has a long tradition of support for the mission of the National Park Service.  The FY2009 Albright-Wirth awardees represent NPS employees Servicewide with all regions represented. Determining the award recipients for the fiscal year 2009 cycle was a passionate task and we are pleased that the final selections symbolize the true spirit of the past NPS Directors, Horace M. Albright and Conrad L. Wirth.  A celebration of possibilities, this wonderful collaboration between the Rockefellers and the National Park Foundation has opened doors for NPS employees  over the years allowing them opportunities to pursue turning dreams into realities.

Look for a web posting on InsideNPS announcing the next cycle of the FY 2010 Albright-Wirth grant program April 2009.
For more information contact Capital Training Center superintendent Clarenda Drake at 202-354-1401 or Clarenda_Drake@nps.gov , or Albright-Wirth Program grant administrator/employee development specialist Lonnie Lowe at 202-354-1487 or Lonnie_Lowe@nps.gov