The National Park Service has selected Andrea Compton to be the next superintendent of Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego.

Compton, who is currently serving as the park’s acting superintendent, will assume her permanent role April 4. She replaces Tom Workman who retired from the agency after 40 years of service.

“Andrea’s proven leadership in park management and experience with the partners, communities, and cultural heritage of San Diego makes her the ideal leader to take Cabrillo National Monument into the National Park Service’s second century,” said Martha Lee, Pacific West Region acting regional director.

Compton is returning to Cabrillo National Monument, where she began her National Park Service career in 2002. She left the park in 2009 to assume her current job as Joshua Tree National Park’s chief of resources management, where she oversees natural and cultural resources in Joshua Tree’s Mojave and Sonoran desert ecosystems.

“Cabrillo represents a beautiful blend of natural environments on land and in the water, which together with its rich stories and artifacts represent a part of San Diego’s amazing history,” said Compton. “I am delighted and honored to have been selected for this position. I look forward to rejoining the wonderful staff, volunteers, Cabrillo National Monument Conservancy and Cabrillo National Monument Foundation associates, and the many park partners to celebrate and enjoy San Diego’s national park.”

Prior to joining the National Park Service, Compton worked at Mesa College where she taught general biology, and at San Diego State University where she worked with the Field Stations Program. Her business experience includes work with an environmental consulting firm in Portland, Oregon. She holds a master’s degree in fishery and wildlife biology from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree in animal ecology from Iowa State University. She will be making the move to San Diego with her husband.

Cabrillo National Monument, located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula within the Point Loma Ecological Conservation Area, commemorates Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s 1542 voyage of exploration and its significance. The significance of the park is enhanced by the presence of the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, one of the first eight lighthouses built along the west coast by the U.S. government in the 1850s.