Museum Curator

Summary

This position is located in Mesa Verde National Park, in the Office of the Superintendent Staff.

Serves as the Museum Curator, who provides direction over extensive museum collections and carries out responsibilities in the four museum functions of collections, exhibits, research and education.

For more information about the duties and/or location of this position, please contact Kayci Cook at or

Duties

Major Duties:

• Directs an intricate program of museum activities that involve sensitive and complex collections issues that may impact a wide variety of park issues.
• Provides overall professional and technical direction for the museum collection program, plans for and develops recommendations for programming priorities of all museum management functions, and ensures that Agency and professionally recognized procedures are applied in all operations.
• Accessions and catalogs objects, verifying the accuracy of information in collection records and files; annually inventorying collections and maintaining all record-keeping and documentation for museum collections.
• Develops strategic plans, work plans and schedules, project statements, scope of work, cost estimates, and proposals to justify funding requests and accomplish goals.
• Develops and implements long range plans for development, evaluation, documentation, preservation, research, and interpretation of museum collection within the context of the park's mission, objectives, and resources.
• Consults with all divisions to assure the park's compliance with legislative requirements and NPS policy dealing with preservation of museum objects and as required, with other cultural and natural resource management concerns.

Physical Demands: The work requires mental alertness, better than average manual dexterity, and mobility. Although primarily sedentary, inspections and operations evaluations involve activities demanding a certain amount of exertion such as walking, climbing, crawling, lifting of heavy objects, bending, stooping, and reaching. Working with collections can involve prolonged exposure to hazardous materials and equipment. Working with lighting systems, environmental control systems, and alarm systems can involve exposure to electrical current and the use of power tools with attendant physical hazards. The work entails the ability to concentrate for long periods of time.

Work Environment: Most of the work is performed in an office and storage or laboratory facility. Frequent visits are made to the library, visitor center, and other museums in the park. The incumbent makes occasional field trips to the backcountry. Some travel to other facilities and museums, as well as to training and professional meetings is required.

Park/Area Information:

Located in Southwest Colorado, Mesa Verde National Parkwas established in 1906 to preserve and interpret the archaeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people. For over 700 years, the Ancestral Pueblo people built thriving communities on the mesas and in the cliffs of Mesa Verde. Today, the park protects the rich cultural heritage of 26 Pueblos and Tribes and offers visitors a spectacular window into the past while also highlighting contemporary connections. This World Heritage Site and International Dark Sky Park is home to over a thousand species, including several that live nowhere else on earth. Nearby Yucca House National Monument is managed under Mesa Verde. It is an undeveloped NPS unit and protects a large unexcavated valley pueblo.

On average Mesa Verde hosts 500,000+ visitors per year. Area residents and visitors enjoy world-class outdoor recreational opportunities including skiing, mountain biking, hiking, rafting, camping, hunting, and fishing in the region. Nearby public lands include the San Juan National Forest, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument and other areas in the Tres Rios District of the Bureau of Land Management. The local towns of Cortez, Mancos, Dolores, and Durango provide a range of housing, dining, and shopping opportunities, and both Durango and Cortez have regional airports. Mesa Verde and the nearby communities are great places to work and live.

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