From County to National

Hi! My name is Trevor Gardner. I was born in to a military family in a very rural area of Maine. I spent much of my time outdoors as a young child, which helped create my love for nature now. When I was young, my family and I had to move a lot, going from military base to military base until finally we ended up in Annapolis, Maryland. Here, I got involved with Boy Scouts and worked my way up to the rank of Eagle Scout.

  

Eagle Scout Ceremony

Before working on my Eagle Scout project, I didn’t know what I wanted to do after I graduated college. I was planning on getting a degree in business as a “safe” degree while I figured out what I wanted to do. However, when I began work on the Eagle Scout project, I had to talk to county park rangers to get permits for my build. After talking to them, I knew I wanted to be a park ranger. After a few years and a few interviews, I landed a job as an Anne Arundel County Park Ranger.

    First job as a park ranger

I really enjoyed working as a county park ranger. I was in constant contact with not only the people of my community, but also with nature. I had a firsthand account of what it took to take care of a park and provide the best experience for the people within. While I was happy working at the park, I knew I wanted to go farther.

Pepper spray training

I began to research college programs that trained people to be national law enforcement rangers, without much hope of success. Then, the Temple ProRanger program popped up. I attended a few meetings with the administration, got into Temple and then joined the 7^th cohort of the ProRanger program.




              Arrest and search training


The program has introduced me to many different parks, whether through visiting the site or doing a lot of research on them. I have come to really enjoy parks with water access, be it a river or the ocean, and parks that are rural that could bring me back to what I was used to when I was growing up. During my summer internship I hope to learn about the side of law enforcement that people don’t usually think about when they consider law enforcement – paperwork and administrative services. I also want to learn what it takes to maintain a park, both the nature and the people. 

The ProRangers

I am excited to start my internship and looking forward to a great summer!