This discussion takes place via YouTube livestream: youtube.com/watch?v=UVG4R2XlT7U

***Please note: The event had been scheduled for Tuesday, March 20, 2021 and has been postponed until Wednesday, March 28, 2021.***

On the occasion of Earth Day and Transatlantic Innovation Week, Rangers Shelton Johnson (Yosemite NP) and Klaus Melde (Berchtesgaden NP) will talk about their joint appreciation of nature, their respective tasks and responsibilities, commonalities and peculiarities of the two parks as well as current challenges and strategies to engage young and underserved audiences.

Shelton Johnson has been a Park Ranger with the U.S. National Park Service for more than 30 years. He has described an outing to Berchtesgaden as “the most significant moment of his childhood” – an awakening that led him to his current vocation.

Over the course of his Ranger career, Shelton has developed and presented interpretive programs to the public in Yellowstone National Park, National Capitol Parks, Great Basin, and - his current work station - Yosemite National Park. He is the recipient of the 2009 National Freeman Tilden Award, the highest annual award given by the National Park Service for Interpretation. He has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Michigan.

In 1890, an act of Congress created Yosemite National Park, home of such natural wonders as Half Dome, spectacular waterfalls and giant sequoia trees. It spans nearly 1,200 square miles.

Klaus Melde, a native Berchtesgadener, has been a Park Ranger with Berchtesgaden  Nationalpark for close to two decades. Unlike Shelton, Klaus chose a very different path to rangership - as a craftsman by training, a former truck driver and raft guide. He is an intimate connoisseur of the United States, where he spent two formative years in the late 1980s.

Founded in 1978, Berchtesgaden National Park includes an area of 81 square miles. The Park is famous for its high mountains, deep valleys and crystal-clear alpine streams.

Welcome Remarks: Meghan Gregonis, U.S. Consul General Munich

Please note:

During the talk, you may ask your questions online via YouTube chat. If you prefer to do so even before the lecture, you can write us an e-mail at event@amerikahaus.de – just include “National Parks“ in the subject line.

Organizers: U.S. Consulate General Munich, Nationalpark Berchtesgaden, Amerikahaus – Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations

Contact: Dominik Raabe, Joanna King, Nina Müller

^{(Foto: Yosemite NP, Mirror Lake © Wei Ren Koh,  unsplash.com)}