iSWOOP | Interpreters and Scientists Working On Our Parks

I find the opportunity to see the research most valuable. It is better to tell people how the research works if you know about the research.

—Park Interpreter

iSWOOP is a way to bring scientists, educators, and interpreters together to foster a better understanding of science that’s going on in national parks.

—iSWOOP Scientist

We’re surrounded by all these things and there is all this research and all these questions about the natural world, to be able to actually talk directly with the people getting the answers, that’s huge.

—Park Interpreter

What iSWOOP does is equip the interpreter to make connections with the visitors about science and technology.

—Park Interpreter

I was also very glad to have had the opportunity to talk to the researchers, ask questions and collect data. That experience is something I can share with visitors … [to] inspire them to think about the world in a dynamic way.

—Park Interpreter

I honestly think that the methods we have been encouraged to use in our iSWOOP programs are the NPS future of interpretation. Inquiry-based learning is what interpreters need to practice in today’s inquisitive and interactive world.

—Park Interpreter

We all come with our own stories and all of sudden we’re all here as one community doing something extraordinary.

—Park Interpreter

Interpreters and Scientists Working On Our Parks (iSWOOP) was funded by the National Science Foundation as a model program to build visitors’ understanding of science at national parks together with educators, scientists, and rangers.

I honestly think that the methods we have been encouraged to use in our iSWOOP programs are the NPS future of interpretation. Inquiry-based learning is what interpreters need to practice in today’s inquisitive and interactive world.

– Park Interpreter