TEACHING INTERPRETERS HOW TO PRESENT GEOLOGIC PROCESSES IN OUR NATIONAL PARKS

A great variety of volcanic features that resulted from innumerable eruptions and earthquakes at two of Earth's most active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea, dominate the landscape in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Most of the two million annual visitors to the park drive around and through the summit caldera of Kilauea Volcano. The main Visitor Center and Jaggar Museum are situated within the caldera and on the edge of the innermost crater. Though park interpreters lead many hikes in the caldera, most do not incorporate the remarkable geologic story of the caldera into their presentations. Geology is not a simple subject, and very few of the interpreters have an earth science background. Many new discoveries have increased our understanding of the history of Kilauea's summit area. With support from the National Park Service "Geology in the Parks" program, we have developed a short educational video for the Park interpreters that describes these new discoveries and illustrates the caldera's development of the past 500 years. By presenting on-site talks by a professional earth scientist we put the speaker and audience in the landscape. Subjects are emphasized using either footage of actual eruptions or with animated cross-sectional graphics that depict scientific interpretation. Short video presentations like this can help to improve geologic stories told to visitors at national parks.