CTC worker vying to win Australia park ranger job

By Ky Plaskon, Capitol Public Radio

A South Lake Tahoe woman has beaten out nearly 600,000 other contestants from around the world to become a finalist for a dream job.

Victoria Ortiz, who works for the California Tahoe Conservancy, makes her pitch for what some have called the best job in the world with a 30 second video of her adventures.

Victoria Ortiz

“She fords raging rivers, she summits epic peaks and she takes herself very seriously. She is Australia’s next park ranger,” stated Ortiz in a video.

Ortiz is competing for one of six positions as a park ranger at the Great Barrier Reef. The job description includes checking water temperatures, patrolling the beaches and talking to tourists all day.

“I will tell them how excited I am to be there and hopefully about all the interesting species that are really endemic to that area,” Ortiz said.

The job comes with $100,000 in salary and living expenses. Ortiz will learn if she won on May 15.