Park Volunteer Wins Photo Contest

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that Volunteer-in-Park Robert Burton was recently selected as the grand prize winner of the Department of the Interior’s 2018 Share the Experience employee photography contest. Burton captured the winning image of a pipevine swallowtail butterfly on a turk’s cap lily near Collins Gap along Clingmans Dome Road.

Burton, of Schertz, TX, has been volunteering the park’s Backcountry Office since 2016. His winning photo was selected from 804 entries for its exemplary photographic qualities and showcasing of our public lands.

“I think the photo is representative of the vast beauty of the park,” said Volunteer Robert Burton. “I feel honored and privileged to represent Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”

A copy of Burton’s winning photo will be displayed in Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, TN.  A second copy of the photo will be on permanent display in a conference room in the Department of Interior Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The contest is open to all employees and volunteers the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, National Archives, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation. For more information about the contest, please visit https://employees.sharetheexperience.org/spotlights. 

About Brad Jones

BBB Communications Owner/Operator Brad Jones has been part of the company since August 1996. A graduate of Coalfield High School in 1987, Brad later earned his degree from the University of Tennessee College of Communications in 1995, where he was honored with the 1995 Broadcast Production Student of the Year Award. Brad began his broadcasting career while still attending college, working at Shop at Home, Inc. from 1993 to 1995. He later worked at Via TV (RSTV, Inc.) from 1995 to 1996 before doing freelance production work in Nashville. In August 1996, he joined the staff at BBB Communications, where he has remained ever since. In 2001, Brad also spent a short time working as a news photographer for WVLT-TV while continuing his role at BBB TV. In addition to his work in local broadcasting, Brad also works part-time at Jewelry Television and works with Packman Productions on “Rivalry Thursday” during football season. Brad is married to Nicole Jenkins Jones, a 1990 graduate of Oak Ridge High School. Nicole works at Oak Ridge Gastroenterology Associates. Together they have three children: Trevor Bogard, Chandler Jones, and Naomi Jones, along with three grandchildren: Carter Bogard, Lucas Hayward, and Adalynn Reece Bogard.

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