Eric Brunnemann has been selected as superintendent of Pinnacles National Monument in Paicines, California.

Brunnemann, a 16-year veteran of the NPS, will move from War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam to the Hollister area in mid-October.

"Eric has strong management skills, especially in resource issues," said regional director Jon Jarvis. "I am impressed with his ability to encourage staff and community members to work toward a goal and am confident the Pinnacles community, including its condors, will be well served."

Brunnemann follows Cicely Muldoon, who was promoted in July to deputy regional director for public use management and now works in the regional office in Oakland.

"I am very eager to get to Pinnacles, join the community, and get a feel for the land," Brunnemann said when the announcement of his appointment was made. "I have a fondness for the chaparral country and look forward to learning from the strong park staff, the values of the cultural and natural resources in the area."

Brunnemann's undergraduate degree is from the University of Texas at Austin in anthropological-archeology. His masters' degrees are from the University of Texas in anthropology, and another from the University of New Mexico in American studies.
He has been superintendent of the NPS area on Guam and its affiliated park in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, American Memorial Park on Saipan, since 2002. He has served as cultural resource program manager at Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, Natural Bridges and Hovenweep National Monuments in Utah, and Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico, and in museum management at Fort Davis National Historical Park in Texas.

Pinnacles National Monument is nearly a 100-year old unit of the NPS system. It is located on the San Andreas Fault and highlights caves and volcanic features with spire-like rock formations, and is home to the California condor.

He and his wife Wendy, daughter Catriona, and son Aidan, expect to be leaving the swaying palms and occasional typhoons of the central Pacific and becoming bird of prey watchers and avid earthquake specialists this October.