INTERPRETING PARK LANDSCAPES AND THEIR DEEPER MEANINGS: USING SENSE OF PLACE TO HELP PARK RANGERS AND VISITORS LINK GEOLOGY, ECOLOGY AND HUMAN HISTORY

The landscapes of national parks and other special places provide an opportunity to educate the public on how geological features and processes affect biology, ecology and human history. Most visitors to a park have had very special experiences visiting other parks. They have traveled to parks with their families; experienced breathtaking scenery and Earth processes in action; and not infrequently, their spouse may have proposed to them at an iconic feature such as Yosemite Falls or the Grand Canyon. Invoking the “sense of place” provided by national parks can therefore create opportunities to heighten visitors’ intellectual and emotional appreciation of park landscapes and their deeper meanings. A series of workshops in 2005-06 trained park rangers to interpret geological features and processes in the region of their park. That was followed by EarthScope workshops from 2008-11 to train rangers and museum educators to integrate seismic, GPS, and other monitoring of the ever-changing landscape into their interpretive programs and exhibits (www.earthscope.org/eno/parks). In these workshops, interpretive rangers and education specialists from NPS, USFS, BLM, state parks, museums, and other agencies worked with prominent research scientists to learn about the scientific discoveries and societal implications of ongoing geological and geophysical research. Participants worked with the scientists to design interpretive programs that educate the public about earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the formation of the spectacular scenery of parks and other special places. A series of workshops is being planned that will train park rangers nationwide on landscape features and their deeper meanings. The workshop presentations, field excursions, and interpretive program development will draw on Earth Science Literacy principles such as "Earth is a complex system of interacting rock, water, air, and life" (www.earthscienceliteracy.org). Such an Earth Systems perspective will train rangers on the geology of national parks and at the same time reveal how geology relates to all aspects of natural and cultural history.