Cool Jobs in Government
Top News
- OMB reworking financial systems to focus on outcomes, not inputs
- OMB taps VanRoekel to lead management team
- Lew taps government retiree pension fund to avoid default
- PHOTOS: Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal Finalists
- Hagel: Accountability breakdown was leading factor in sexual assaults
- Former IRS commissioner faces questions
- SBA starting new lending program for veterans
- More Obama aides knew of IRS audit; Obama not told
- Next-gen Apple devices cleared to join Defense IT networks
- In fight over intelligence IT system, Army prioritizes access to data
- DoD upends slow approval process for mobile devices
- Bonuses to senior execs under fire at GSA, other agencies
- VA's Gould moves the needle on many of VA's toughest challenges
- Tuesday federal headlines - May 21, 2013
Thousands of feds have one thing in common - they perform work most people don't associate with the government. In our ongoing series, Cool Jobs in Government, Federal News Radio uncovers and highlights some of the most interesting and unorthodox ways feds spend their days.
Cool Jobs: Air marshals opt for down-to-earth training for in-the-air threats
Recruits in the Federal Air Marshal Service undergo 16 weeks of rigorous training to prepare for their primary duty - helping travelers reach their destinations unharmed. Every three months, air marshals receive refresher training in hand-to-hand defense, physical fitness and threat-scenarios aboard a life-size mockup of a passenger jet. Federal News Radio goes inside a flight simulator for a first-hand look at a training exercise.
Cool Jobs: USDA Community Gardener
Livia Marques created a nationwide community garden network that, to date, has donated 1.3 million pounds of produce to the needy. She is a finalist for the 2012 Service to America Medals.
NASA's new stars make geeky seem chic
Known to the Twitterverse and the president of the United States as "Mohawk Guy" of the Mars mission, Bobak Ferdowsi could be the changing public face of NASA and all of geekdom.
Cool Jobs: The Spacesuit Conservator
Lisa Young is the objects conservator at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. She discusses the challenges of preserving spacesuits as part of Federal News Radio's Cool Jobs in Government series.
FBI fitness instructor guides students down the 'Yellow Brick Road'
For seven years, E.J. O'Malley has been a health and fitness instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. Four times a year, he instructs law enforcement personnel from across the U.S. and around the world at the FBI's National Academy - a 10-week course that includes a comprehensive physical training program. Read O'Malley's story as part of our "Cool Jobs in Government" series.
Cool Jobs: The Mural Preservationist
Dallan Wordekemper, federal preservation officer with the Postal Service, restores New Deal-era murals at U.S. post offices across the country.
Cool Jobs: The National Zoo Lion Trainer
Kristen Clark is an animal keeper at the National Zoo, one of two who trains the lions — including the adult male, two lionesses and seven cubs. Federal News Radio interviews her as part of our Cool Jobs in Government series.
Cool Jobs: The Biogeographer
Jennifer Krstolic is a biogeographer for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Cool Jobs: The Global Lawyer
Peter Roudik is the director of the 20-person staff of the Global Legal Research Center at the Library of Congress. The center serves all three branches of the government when they have inquiries about international laws.
Cool Jobs: CSI Environment
K. Eric Nottingham, director of the National Enforcement Investigations Center in Denver, Colo., explains how the EPA's investigators help prosecute environmental offenders.
Cool Jobs: The Veteran's Healer
Diane Phillips is the patient-centered care coordinator at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Cool Jobs: NIH Executive Chef
Hedetniemi says his NIH job allows him to be creative while helping to meet the agency's mission to eradicate disease.
Cool Jobs: The Fiddlin' Foresters
"Music is just the universal language," said Jane Leche, the lead singer of the Fiddlin' Foresters, the official band of the U.S. Forest Service. The musicians use old-time folk music to spread the message of nature conservation.
Cool Jobs: Predicting weather in space
In this installment of our Cool Jobs in Government series, we learn about an entire group of people who work on predicting weather in space.
Cool Jobs: USPS preserves stamps in cave
Some call it the Ft. Knox for stamps. The Stamp Fulfillment Center is located in a cave in Missouri and houses millions of dollars in stamps. Manager Khalid Hussain explains why he thinks he's got one pretty cool federal job in this installment of our Cool Jobs in Government series.
Cool Jobs: Fed manages fine art at the GSA
When you think of fine arts and the federal government, you probably think of the National Gallery, not the General Services Administration.
A round up of Cool Jobs in Government
Find out about all of the different and interesting federal jobs highlighted during our special report. Plus, tell us about your cool or unusual federal job.
Cool Jobs: NIST scientists deal with weighty issues daily
Most of us take for granted that medicines are usually dispensed in pills or capsules by the milligram and that a sack of flour or sugar is usually dispensed by the pound. But who determines officially just what a milligram or a pound actually is? As part of our "Cool Jobs in Government" series, Federal News Radio's Max Cacas takes us to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Cool Jobs: Postmaster offers refuge for hikers
As Postmaster in Hot Springs, N.C. along the Appalachian Trail, Rosemary Allen meets hikers from all over the world. She describes her work and the unique relationships it allows her to create in today's installation of Cool Jobs in Government.
USGS feds unshaken by D.C. earthquake
As a magnitude 3.6 quake struck the D.C. area just a few minutes past 5 a.m. this morning, the USGS stood ready within moments with answers. Geophysicist Jessica Sigala said it's all part of her really cool job in government.
