OMAHA, Neb. -- Indiana Dunes National Park officially has a new superintendent with the National Park Service selecting Jason Taylor for the position earlier this month. He will assume his new role at later this spring.

Taylor has experience as a resource and land management leader and currently serves as the Director of the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute (ALWRI) for the United States Forest Service in Missoula, Montana.

“I am excited to welcome Jason back to the NPS as the new superintendent of Indiana Dunes,” said NPS Midwest Regional Director Bert Frost. “His ability to manage resources through integrating science and ecology with land use principles will be a great asset to the park and the interdisciplinary team of professionals who steward it.”

NPS officials say Taylor brings over 15 years of federal service with him to Indiana Dunes.

"He began his federal career working for the Bureau of Land Management in the White River Field Office. He previously worked with the NPS in 2013 as the chief of natural resource management and science at Cape Cod National Seashore before joining the NPS’s Alaska regional chief of natural resources," NPS officials said. "He would go on to be superintendent at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway, Alaska before joining the U.S. Forest Service."

Officials say that as the current Director for ALWRI, he leads an interagency effort dedicated to the development and dissemination of science crucial to the stewardship of nearly 112 million acres of land in the National Wilderness Preservation System.

“Having spent most of my career in faraway places, I am excited to return home to serve the people and resources of the Great Lakes states,” Taylor said. “I am looking forward to joining the talented park staff and contributing to the exceptional work already happening to care for a place that’s so special, ecologically and culturally, and to the community and partners.”

Taylor earned a Doctorate and Master of Science in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan – Flint. He and his wife Jennifer, along with their two young children, will be relocating to the Dunes area in early May.