THE DEVELOPENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A VOLUNTEER INTERPRETER PROGRAM TO AUGMENT A STATE PARK FOSSIL TOUR: EFFORTS OF THE HILL ANNEX PALEONTOLOGY PROJECT

The Hill Annex Mine State Park has for several decades run a public fossil tour program as part of their seasonal programming. For the last five years, the Hill Annex Paleontology Project has been conducting field research at the site as part of its mission investigation into the Cretaceous of Minnesota. The sediments at the mine are Upper Cretaceous in origin and described as the Coleraine Formation. Stockpiles of this material remain on the park grounds and are open to public fossil picking via a bus tour. As part of the Hill Annex Paleontology Project outreach efforts, the researchers helped develop and implement an interpreter program to operate in conjunction with park staff. The interpreter program was staffed by an all-volunteer group selected out of the Project field crew. We will share insights from our own experiences with training, scheduling, funding, materials, and collaboration with partners.