Seeking Park-based Science Information: Interpreters At the Gate

Martha Merson, Cynthia Char, Nickolay Hristov, and Louise Allen
The George Wright Forum, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 368–380 (2017).

Summary

During the 2015 George Wright Society Conference panel “Redrawing the Boundaries: Science Communication in the National Park Service (NPS),” Park Service leaders discussed the shared responsibility for communicating science across job categories. Tim Watkins, science and education coordinator, and Julia Washburn, associate director for interpretation and education, acknowledged that making science prominent at parks has historically been neither an established nor a high-profile priority, and recommended scientist–educator partnerships to help increase science learning at parks. Interpretive rangers’ contacts with the public number in the millions annually. Clearly they are in a strong position to be part of initiatives that convey park-based science to the public (National Park Service 2015).