Junior Ranger Intern Program 2024

Our much-anticipated Junior Ranger Intern Program at Radnor Lake will be held again this summer for youth ages 13 – 18 years old. This program creates an opportunity for participants to work with state park rangers on trail projects at Radnor Lake, increase their exposure to environmental education programs and gain an insight into natural resource protection.

This is a labor-intensive collaborative effort between the Friends of Radnor Lake, the Radnor Lake Staff, park volunteers and the Jr. Ranger Interns. Most days consist of hiking a minimum of 3 miles, hauling mulch, gravel and/or other trail supplies along the trail system at Radnor Lake for trail improvements and/or assisting our ranger staff at the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center.

Lunch and two t-shirts are provided by Friends of Radnor Lake for each participant.

As we did in 2023, Sessions this year will be 6 days each with a total of three sessions.

Registration and general information on the program are listed below:

Session 1: June 10th – 15th
Session 2: June 24th – 29th
Session 3: July 22nd – 27th

Each participant will receive a $25 per day stipend from Friends of Radnor Lake, which will be paid to each Jr. Ranger for each day attending the program. Attendance each day of the session an applicant is signed up for is mandatory for all 6 days. If an applicant cannot attend all 6 days, they will need to apply for a session which they can attend all 6 days as we anticipate more applications than we can accommodate for these three sessions.

Standard schedule will be 9am-4pm with one of these being an off-site 10-hour river clean-up day, however that is subject to changed based on weather and/or the ranger staff’s schedule in managing the natural area’s needs on a day-to-day basis.

Email applications for the Jr. Ranger Intern Program 2024 will be accepted starting on Monday, April 1st and will end on Friday, April 12th. Please do not send applications before the registration period begins.

Each applicant will be notified on Friday, April 19th with the session they will be attending.

Each applicant should send an email to Lyndy Maness at lyndy.maness@tn.gov with the following 5 pieces of information:

1. Title of email should be “Jr. Ranger Intern Candidate 2024”
2. Name of applicant
3. Age
4. Grade level they will be entering in Fall 2024
5. If they have applied for the Radnor Lake Jr. Ranger Intern Program in the past and/or if they have been in the program. If so, what year.
6. Session(s) in order of preference they are applying for this summer.

Registration will not be done in person or by phone, instead each applicant is asked to submit an email to Lyndy Maness and then applicants will be chosen by a committee to participate in the program.

If there are any additional questions regarding the program, please contact Lyndy Maness at Lyndy.Maness@tn.gov . Given the high volume of emails and park visitors, please allow 4-5 days for response.