Los Alamos County Public Information Officer Dave Krueger stops by the Los Alamos Daily Post newsroom. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

For about 26 years, Dave Krueger’s office was essentially the great outdoors.

He worked for the National Park Service in North Carolina, Yellowstone National Park, and most recently Valles Caldera National Preserve. Then, the opportunity to serve the public as the Los Alamos County Public Information Officer appeared so Krueger decided to move his work inside.

Krueger officially joined the County Feb. 2. He takes over from Julie Williams-Hill, who retired last week.

It’s been a pleasant adjustment moving from the National Park Service to the County government, he said.

“Seeing the great work the County does was a huge draw and meeting the rest of the senior management team just sold me that this was a great place to work,” Krueger said. “I’ve lived here for four-and-a-half-years now and my family has really loved this community, so we found this as a way to give back to the community.”

“I really enjoy the people,” he added. “…each person I’ve met has been wonderful, and it’s been really neat to see how dedicated they are to helping the residents of Los Alamos makes this an even better community.”

While Krueger said he is still learning the ropes, he is eager to share everything the County is working on.

“I think one of the biggest things is helping to show everybody in town all the amazing work the County is doing, while helping residents learn all about the upcoming projects and giving them a voice,” Krueger said. “People like to know what is going on.”

It is a different work environment, but Krueger said he can apply what he did for the National Park Service to the County’s communications.

“Up at Valles Caldera, we communicated with every visitor who came to the park and tried to educate them about all the wonderful opportunities at the park. Here at the County, I see myself in a similar role where instead of visitors we are talking to residents, commuters, and anyone who engages with the County and instead of all the wonderful opportunities at the park, it is all of the wonderful opportunities here in the County that they can enjoy, participate in, or learn about,” he said. “It’s kind of a facilitator role.”

More specifically, Krueger said at Valles Caldera, visitors were introduced to its general management plan as well as where the park came from and where it hoped to go in the future.

At the County, “we have so many different projects going on whether it is a Public Works project or Community Services initiatives, it’s helping get the word out about all those projects and initiatives.”

As far as how that information is relayed, Krueger said he and his team are always looking for new and creative ways to communicate and listen to residents’ suggestions on what they would like to see done.

Before arriving in Los Alamos, Krueger said he worked for Yellowstone National Park as its digital media specialist, handling all the park’s digital communication avenues.

He also did science communication at the National Park Service’s national office, interpretative media work in North Carolina, and was chief of interpretation at Valles Caldera.

He may have shifted his career, but Krueger said he and his family still enjoy the great outdoors whether it is hiking or traveling.