NATURAL HERITAGE: LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION OF TROPICAL AMERICA DURING THE LAST 23 MILLION YEARS (Invited Presentation)

Engaging communities in Colombia about new legislation on cultural heritage, both paleontological and archeological, is challenging. In some areas, cultural heritage is seen as a source of income through illegal trafficking. As a consequence, an incomplete record lacking locality information is the only evidence of the processes that shaped the landscape. To mitigate this cultural problem and educate local communities about the importance of a complete fossil record, we use casts of local Neogene–Quaternary fossils and artifacts from regional museums. By using innovative educational strategies to motivate and engage local communities in preservation of heritage, we created observation-based, virtual workshops to demonstrate the importance of preserving local heritage. Workshop participants learn about their heritage by describing specimens, developing ideas, and connecting observations logically. To do this, we defined biotic patterns and morphological typologies from the literature. Each specimen provides information about a specific place and time in geologic history, and allows for the inference of physical processes that occurred during landscape evolution. Participants construct observations regarding the geology, biology, and archeology of the area, bringing back to life the ancient biomes and human communities. Participants learn that natural heritage includes any evidence of organisms that inhabited different ecosystems across geologic time. The overall attendance and engagement with the activities confirms that local museums are optimal spaces to reach communities, mainly K-12 students. Participants not only learn about an ancient history characterized by different climates, but also alter perception about science and current events. By incorporating our research experience, participants reinforce their interest in science, while placing the museums and their collections at the center of their learning and collaborative experiences. Although this is a pioneer effort in Colombia, communities achieve a better understanding of heritage, realizing it is inherited from past generations, and realizing there is more value in preserving them for research and outreach.