Diversity in the Heart of New Mexico – Alex Arnold

:For centuries, central New Mexico hosted people from many different backgrounds. From the Plains people to Pueblo people, Spaniards to settlers expanding west and more, the blending of cultures in the area shaped the diversity that lives on to this day.

Program description: PowerPoint presentation of the people that settled in and around Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument with a section devoted to the park and its resources.

Alex Arnold

: My name is Alex Arnold, I am 25 years old and was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania. I began volunteering for the National Park Service as an Interpretation and Visitor Service volunteer at 13 years old at Friendship Hill National Historic Site. I remained a volunteer throughout school until I turned 18 and became a seasonal Interpretive Park Ranger at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. I attended college at California University of Pennsylvania and obtained a B.A. in history with minors of event planning and tourism studies and a B.A. in Parks and Recreation Management. Throughout my university career, I was a seasonal park ranger at five different units of the National Park Service between Pennsylvania, Kansas, Maryland, and New Jersey. Just about a year after graduation, I landed my first permanent position at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Currently, I am serving a detail promotion as Chief of Interpretation and Visitor Service at that park.