Brian Forist (he, him, his)

Thousands of visitors to parks take part in ranger-led programs annually. During these programs rangers work to evoke and maintain interest in order to connect visitors with cultural and natural resources. Researchers have found interest is a powerful driver of learning, yet its role in the experience of adults who participate in ranger-led programming has
not been well studied. Open-ended telephone interviews conducted months after a ranger-led hike to a prominent dune in Indiana Dunes National Park illustrate the extent to which visitors’ recollections show continuity with their reasons for attending the ranger-led hike and their uptake of resource messages. Like other ranger-led programming, this hike was designed to make intellectual and emotional connections, to fuel long-held interests, and activate new stewards. The program was the result of collaboration among rangers and local scientists. Responses to a pre-hike survey were matched with post-hike recollections transcribed following an open-ended phone interview. The vast majority of posthike
interviews revealed a match between hike participants’ initial interests and recollected details of the experience as well as new areas of piqued interest. In post-hike reflections, visitors mentioned factors that influenced the dune’s formation, and the majority mentioned the problems caused by trampling. Participants recruited for this study grasped and recollected resource messages connected to their interests. They spoke of the need to protect a popular and puzzling geological formation.

From 1861 to 1904, Miss Harriet Colfax served as keeper of the federal lighthouse at Michigan City, Indiana. For the full 43 years of her service her companion, Miss Ann Hartwell, lived with her. While original source documents are a record of the lives of "Ann and Tat," as they were known to their friends, newspaper articles published during their lives and in the decades after their passing (both in 1905) provide insights on the ways they were seen and their relationship described. A difference is noted after their deaths, with an apparent distancing of Ann from Harriet. Through reporting and analysis of news articles, details are revealed about Harriet Colfax and her relationship with Ann Hartwell. A sort of disappearing of that relationship in the news, and an official distancing by the historical society now managing the lighthouse as a museum, are described. While there is no specific evidence that Ann and Tat were lesbians, there is similarly no evidence that they were not. This leads to an exploration of a lens of queer possibility and thoughts on interpreting LGBTQIA+ stories at parks, protected areas, and heritage sites.

From 1861 to 1904, Miss Harriet Colfax served as keeper of the federal lighthouse at Michigan City, Indiana. For the full 43 years of her service her companion, Miss Ann Hartwell, lived with her. While original source documents are a record of the lives of "Ann and Tat," as they were known to their friends, newspaper articles published during their lives and in the decades after their passing (both in 1905) provide insights on the ways they were seen and their relationship described. A difference is noted after their deaths, with an apparent distancing of Ann from Harriet. Through reporting and analysis of news articles, details are revealed about Harriet Colfax and her relationship with Ann Hartwell. A sort of disappearing of that relationship in the news, and an official distancing by the historical society now managing the lighthouse as a museum, are described. While there is no specific evidence that Ann and Tat were lesbians, there is similarly no evidence that they were not. This leads to an exploration of a lens of queer possibility and thoughts on interpreting LGBTQIA+ stories at parks, protected areas, and heritage sites.

This is a study about the effectiveness of natural and cultural resource-based communication or “interpretation” as practiced in national parks of the United States. Specifically, it focuses on informal interpretation, extemporaneous or unplanned encounters between park officials and visitors, in five units of the National Park System. The stated aim of interpretation is to build connections between visitors and park resources. This study asked questions about the effectiveness of informal efforts to enhance the experience of park natural and cultural resources for visitors, from their perspective as opposed to that of the park officials.

This study, based in dialogue theory, tested an approach to park communication referred to here as two-way, dialogic interpretation. Qualities of two-way, dialogic communication were identified and then observed in informal encounters between park officials and visitors. Visitors were interviewed between three and thirty-six months after their visit. An assessment of interview data, specifically visitor recall of the experience, compared against ethnographic records of the encounters were used as a measure of the power or effectiveness of the qualities of two-way, dialogic interpretation in enhancing recall. In addition, an assessment of the priority given to informal interpretation was performed through content analysis of various planning and management documents from the parks studied.

Results indicated that employment of the identified qualities of two-way, dialogic
interpretation had little effect on visitor recall of their park experience. It appears, according to this study, that the place itself and the natural and cultural resources protected in the parks are at the very center of the visitors’ recall. In essence, the study’s results indicate that what an interpreter says or how they say it is far less important than the actual resource-based experience that the visitor has. This phenomenon is discussed and recommendations for further study are made.

... Illustrations: Unless otherwise credited, drawings for chapters 1,2,5, and 6, and all photographs by Stephen P. Stanne ... Other individuals patiently answered questions during our research: Dr. Joanna Burger, Rutgers University; Dr. Donald Cadwell, NY State Geological Survey; Dr ...

Located 50 miles from Chicago, at Indiana Dunes National Park, thousands interact with rangers annually, many taking part in ranger-led hikes. The study focused on visitor recollections of a ranger-led hike that provided opportunities to learn about landscape change, recent events, and associated scientific findings. Interpreters are encouraged to co-construct audience-centered experiences, making space in interactions for visitors’ knowledge, interests, and previous experience. Researchers observed six ranger-led hikes incorporating audience-centered design elements and recruited a convenience sample of twenty-one visitors for participation in a pre-hike survey to gather responses about interest and knowledge before the hike and their willingness to participate in a follow up post-hike phone interview. After ranger-led hikes, researchers conducted fifteen interviews using a phenomenological approach to glean visitors’ recollections of the experience. Our findings confirm that visit...

One of the most prominent debates related to interpretation lies in the approach that this informal education process takes—in essence its pedagogy. At its core, personal interpretation's goal is to make the visit a memorable and meaningful encounter. It is an approach that if done properly, may be difficult to master, but one, that ultimately would increase the –success” of interpretation and improve its perception among those in the field as well as those outside the profession. This paper proposes a new pedagogic approach that focuses on the visitor more than the interpretive program. The more that can be learned about the constituents increases the ability to offer information that correlates to their lives and has far more potential to result in long-term impacts desired by our field. The notion of this new interpretation is to devote time and effort in the interpretive experience to learning who the visitor is and with that information, offer a message that would best reso...

One of the most prominent debates related to interpretation lies in the approach that this informal education process takes—in essence its pedagogy. At its core, personal interpretation's goal is to make the visit a memorable and meaningful encounter. It is an approach that if done properly, may be difficult to master, but one, that ultimately would increase the " success " of interpretation and improve its perception among those in the field as well as those outside the profession. This paper proposes a new pedagogic approach that focuses on the visitor more than the interpretive program. The more that can be learned about the constituents increases the ability to offer information that correlates to their lives and has far more potential to result in long-term impacts desired by our field. The notion of this new interpretation is to devote time and effort in the interpretive experience to learning who the visitor is and with that information, offer a message that would best resonate with participants.

This is a study about the effectiveness of natural and cultural resource-based communication or “interpretation” as practiced in national parks of the United States. Specifically, it focuses on informal interpretation, extemporaneous or unplanned encounters between park officials and visitors, in five units of the National Park System. The stated aim of interpretation is to build connections between visitors and park resources. This study asked questions about the effectiveness of informal efforts enhance the experience of park natural and cultural resources for visitors, from their perspective as opposed to that of the park officials.

This study, based in dialogue theory, tested an approach to park communication referred to here as two-way, dialogic interpretation. Qualities of two-way, dialogic communication were identified and then observed in informal encounters between park officials and visitors. Visitors were interviewed between three and thirty-six months after their visit. An assessment of interview data, specifically visitor recall of the experience, compared against ethnographic records of the encounters were used as a measure of the power or effectiveness of the qualities of two-way, dialogic interpretation in enhancing recall. In addition, an assessment of the priority given to informal interpretation was performed through content analysis of various planning and management documents from the parks studied.

Results indicated that employment of the identified qualities of two-way, dialogic interpretation had little effect on visitor recall of their park experience. It appears, according to this study, that the place itself and the natural and cultural resources protected in the parks are at the very center of the visitors’ recall. In essence, the study’s results indicate that what an interpreter says or how they say it is far less important than the actual resource-based experience that the visitor has. This phenomenon is discussed and recommendations for further study are made.