The intern at Mount Rushmore National Memorial will develop and implement new approaches to digital engagement in the context of an iconic park with complex visitation challenges. Mount Rushmore is a world-recognized icon that attracts nearly three-million visitors a year. It has also from inception been a source of controversy owing to its construction on land considered sacred and culturally significant to the nearly two-dozen Indigenous nations associated with the site. The park continues to build its relationship with these nations to strengthen the accuracy of its interpretive programming and to model the principles of co-stewardship in the caretaking of the park.

The intern will take advantage of growing momentum towards the diversity and inclusion initiatives connected to America at 250 celebrations in 2026 and the emphasis on Indigenous histories and narratives. The park has already begun early planning stages for this, and the intern will play a critical role in shaping the direction of the park’s emergent media engagement approach. Critical to this new approach will be to expand beyond the ideas of traditional media relationships and begin engaging with visitors where they are rather than where they used to be. This means applying visitor use data in how visitor experiences are constructed and implemented. For example, studies conducted by IMPACTS shows that in the digital space what other people say about a park is almost thirteen times more important than what the park says about themselves. The challenge for parks is to identify the most effective way to generate interest in visitors creating content about parks rather than parks investing all their resources into creating content on their own. They will have a great deal of autonomy to decide on the direction of their project, but they will never be operating without guidance and mentorship from NPS professionals in Public Affairs, Tribal Consultation, Digital Interpretation, and Partnerships. They will have a great deal of autonomy to decide on the direction of their project, but they will never be operating without guidance and mentorship from NPS professionals in Public Affairs, Tribal Consultation, Digital Interpretation, and Partnerships.