Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced the selection of Dana Soehn as the Management Assistant to the Superintendent’s Office of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She will be filling the position vacated by Bob Miller who retired earlier this summer.
Dana Soehn has been selected as the Management Assistant to the Superintendent’s Office of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (NPS Photo)
In her new position, Soehn will be involved in a wide variety of activities including serving as the park’s liaison and primary spokesperson with community leaders, news outlets, various federal, state and local officials, Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and other special interest groups who are essential in establishing and maintaining valuable relationships in both North Carolina and Tennessee. In addition to managing the park’s public affairs operation, she will also coordinate public planning efforts and briefings, manage the parks rights-of-way, commercial filming and photography programs, and coordinate park special events.
For the past three years, Soehn has served as the parks Volunteer coordinator in a complex program that manages the efforts of over 2,700 volunteers who serve over 135,000 hours of service annually. It is one of the largest volunteer programs in the National Park Service. She began her conservation career at the Smokies in 1989 as a Student Conservation Intern and has worked in a variety of part time and permanent positions at the park in the Natural Resource Management, Resource Education and Visitor and Resource Protection Divisions.
In announcing the selection Superintendent Dale Ditmanson remarked, “We are excited to have someone with Dana’s skills and background accept this important and challenging position. She is no stranger to the park and surrounding communities and will be a valuable asset in establishing, maintaining and growing relationships on behalf of the park.”
Soehn obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1992 and her Master’s Degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources from West Virginia University in Morgantown in 1995. She and her husband Heath, who is a Park Ranger in the Tennessee District, reside in Gatlinburg along with their sons Grant and Garrett.
She will begin her new duties in late September.
– NPS
