Jennifer Johnston

Jennifer Johnston is an Outdoor Recreation Planner at Denali National Park. Born and raised outside of Detroit, Jennifer left the urban world as soon as she could to work in federal land management. She began work seasonally in Denali as a remotely stationed General Ranger, spent time as a backcountry ranger, and returned to Denali as a Planner in 2018 after receiving an M.S. in Natural Resource Social Science from Oregon State University.

Her current work involves partnering with a variety of external agencies and entities including the Alaska Department of Transportation, Alaska Railroad Corporation, and Denali Borough to accomplish park goals. Jennifer also has a background in mediation, and is working to fulfill the requirements for listing on the DOI Mediator Roster.

Previous to her time at Denali, Jennifer worked for a number of national parks, national wildlife refuges, and national forests in roles ranging from interpretation to wilderness patrol and wildland firefighting. When not at work, Jennifer most enjoys exploring the Alaska backcountry on foot and by packraft with her husband Sam and rascally houndmutt Chitsia.