When Anne Longman was offered her dream job, she wasted no time.

“The week after graduation, I packed up my car, put my pet goldfish in a Home Depot bucket, and floored it 4,000 miles to Maine,” she said. 

Shortly after graduating from the Information School’s Museology program, Longman was offered a job by the National Park Service as a visual information specialist at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Working within the Interpretation Division, Longman creates graphics that make the park experience educational and enjoyable for the public. 

Longman first came to the UW in pursuit of a career that would allow her to combine her interests in the great outdoors, museums and graphic design. 

“The iSchool Museology program just felt like the perfect fit,” said Longman, who is originally from the Midwest. “After taking a tour of the school, I immediately felt drawn to the amazing people here, not to mention the abundance of state and national parks in the Pacific Northwest compared to other places in the U.S.” 

During a field trip to Seattle’s Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park with her Exhibit Development class, Longman fell even more in love with the idea of working for a national park. She reached out to Lissa Kramer, a Museology alum working at the Klondike, to hear more about her experience in the field. What started as an informational chat led Longman to learn of an opportunity to get involved as an exhibits assistant, leading her to an internship with the Klondike National Historical Park. 

“Interning was a wonderful experience,” said Longman. “I’ve always just wanted to get my foot in the door somehow, and this played a pivotal role in me securing my job in Maine.” 

The practical experience Longman gained from her internship, in addition to her Museology background, made her well-equipped for the visual information specialist position. She found the interpretive work in her Museology classes especially helpful for her job, in which she synthesizes information and presents it in a way the public can understand. 

“This is all very fulfilling work,” said Longman. “I appreciate that I can very clearly understand the vision of what we’re doing and how it positively affects the public. Having a very strong sense of purpose in what we’re doing really makes the work fun.”