Costa Dillon is a retired National Park Service ranger and park superintendent who worked in more than a dozen parks in his 35-year career including as Superintendent of Indiana Dunes National Park, Fire Island National Seashore, and the Horace Albright Training Center. He is the recipient of the Department of the Interior’s Meritorious Service Award, the National Parks Conservation Association's Stephen Mather Award, and the National Association for Interpretation’s Meritorious Service Award.

Mr. Dillon has a B.S. from the University of California, Davis, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado. Costa has been an adjunct faculty member of the University of New Hampshire and Indiana University where he is an Honorary Fellow of the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands.. He currently teaches at San Diego State University and California State University, San Marcos.

Mr. Dillon is the creator and principal writer of the feature film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, as well as five other feature motion pictures. 

#timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters   #VoicesOfInterpretation #HeritageInterpretation #NationalParks, #InterpretiveVoices, #NPSVoices, #KillerTomatoes

Join Tim Merriman and Bill Gwaltney for a fascinating conversation with T. Lindsay Baker, a historian of the American West who doesn’t just write about the past, he’s lived it.

Author of more than two dozen peer-reviewed histories and a lifelong interpreter, Baker brings academic rigor and interpretive insight together in ways few others do. Known for using first-person interpretive scenarios in his university classrooms and immersive living history to inform his writing, Lindsay once built and lived in a sod house on the Great Plains for 18 months, just to better understand frontier life.

T. Lindsay shows how deep empathy and lived experience can change how we teach, write, and guide at the intersections of history, storytelling, and self-awareness. Whether you’re a museum educator, park interpreter, or heritage trainer, this episode will challenge and inspire you to think differently about how and why we interpret.

He's also a Fulbright Scholar and Texas Tech alum who held curatorial and faculty roles at major institutions across Texas and beyond. But we think you’ll appreciate him most for his humility, humor, and the way he helps us see interpretation as a tool for deep connection.

#timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters  #HEARTApproach #InterpretiveConnections #VoicesOfInterpretation #heritage interpretive guide

For more than fifty years, I’ve been asking one question: What is the purpose of heritage interpretation? Early in my career, a few key experiences set me on a path of reflection—a path that has shaped every step of my professional life since.

Few of us have the luxury of working in isolation or for ourselves alone. If interpretation is to be meaningful and sustainable, it must do more than entertain or inform. We have to protect the resource itself and nurture the circumstances that make interpretation possible. That means building purpose—real, intentional purpose—into everything we plan and do.

I’m Tim Merriman, and in this week’s episode of Reflections on Interpretation, I share a story from my early years—one that forever changed how I think about purpose in our work. It began with a simple question from another trainer: Why did purpose become so important to you so early on?

Join me for this short, heartfelt episode. I hope it inspires you to think about how your work supports the mission and purpose of your organization—and why that purpose matters to you.

Dr. Robert Powell’s research at Clemson University focuses on informal STEM education, interpretation, protected area management, and sustainable tourism. He has led multiple NSF-funded national studies on learning outcomes in parks and environmental education, publishing over 100 peer-reviewed articles. A former U.S. Canoe and Kayak Team member, Bob spent 20 years guiding whitewater and sea kayaking tours spanning 45+ countries and seven continents before earning his PhD from Yale University in 2005.

Dr. Marc J. Stern is a professor in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment, where he teaches interpretation, environmental education, sustainability, and social science research methods. His research explores human behavior in environmental communication, interpretation, education, protected areas, and natural resource planning. He has published widely and serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Interpretation Research, alongside Bob Powell.

#timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters  #HEARTApproach #MatherTrainingCenter #InterpretiveConnections #VoicesOfInterpretation #Clemson #ClemsonPRTM #ClemsonResearch #SustainableTourism #ConservationAtClemson #InterpretiveLeadership #VirginiaTech #VTCNRE #VirginiaTechResearch

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Celeste Bernardo, who devoted 35 years to the National Park Service (NPS), building bridges between people, places, and heritage. With a career spanning coastlines, historic neighborhoods, and international cultural exchanges, Celeste is known for her gift of turning partnerships into lasting legacies.

As acting Deputy Regional Director for the North Atlantic-Appalachian region, she supported more than forty national park units—from wilderness preserves and coastal habitats to historic sites and battlefields. Before that, she spent sixteen years as superintendent of partnership parks, where she championed community-driven projects: restoring historic structures, constructing trails, opening visitor centers, upgrading transportation systems, and hosting large-scale cultural events. Her leadership at Lowell National Historical Park, Boston National Historical Park, the Boston African American National Historic Site, and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park demonstrates her ability to connect diverse communities to their shared stories.

Celeste also served in the Washington Office as the first NPS Partnership Training Specialist, designing curriculum to strengthen leadership’s ability to collaborate across agencies, nonprofits, and communities. Earlier in her career, she honed her interpretive and visitor services skills at national seashores, historical parks, and recreation areas across the country.

Since retiring in 2021, Celeste has continued her mission globally—volunteering in Thailand to enhance interpretive services and leading volunteer management training for park leaders from 38 national parks.

From Massachusetts mills to Thai rainforests, Celeste’s story is about the power of collaboration, heritage, and the enduring human connection to place.

#timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters  #HEARTApproach #MatherTrainingCenter #NPSInterpretation #InterpretiveConnections #VoicesOfInterpretation #nps #nationalpark #nationalparks #nationalparkservice

Toby Merriman, MFA, works each day as Assistant Director of Center for Virtual Expression at Southern Illinois University in assisting faculty in understanding how AI, VR and Gamification may improve their teaching and research. Toby grew up with Tim Merriman, his father, at a nature center and actually worked as an interpretive guide at a Dinosaurs Alive Exhibit when he was 15. He helps Tim and other interpreters understand how they can use these new tech platforms to improve their interpretive planning and execution in many different ways. Join them on Reflections on Interpretation for 39 minutes of talking story about their collaboration in these new tech areas. 

#timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters  #HEARTApproach #InterpretiveConnections #VoicesOfInterpretation

Today on Reflections I am talking story with my podcast co-host, Bill Gwaltney, who recently returned from a trip to western Europe to visit friends from his long career with National Park Service and especially with friends he made during his final five years with American Battle Monuments Commission. Born and raised in the Nation’s Capital, Bill Gwaltney is a seventh generation native of Washington, D.C. His pursuit of a degree in Forestry/Botany led him to change majors focusing on Western American History and Parks and Recreation Management.

Gwaltney had many roles in his thirty-five-year career with the National Park Service from Seasonal Interpreter to Museum Curator and from Regional Interpretive Specialist to Chief Ranger, Site Manager and Park Superintendent.

He also served as President of The Association of African American Museums. In addition, Gwaltney served as Chief Naturalist at Rocky Mountain National Park and as Assistant Regional Director for Workforce Diversity at the Intermountain Region in Denver, Colorado.

Gwaltney’s last two years in the National Park Service found him on loan to the National Museum of African American History and Culture for the Smithsonian Institution, where he designed and developed the exhibit on Military History.

The last five years of his career took him to Paris, France, where he worked for The American Battle Monuments Commission, as the Director of Interpretation and Visitor Services, assisting with the planning, Interpreter training, and Visitor Center development for the 26 American overseas military cemeteries under the Agency’s responsibilities.

Still teaching classes to park and museum employees and volunteers, Gwaltney is a trained Instructor of the H.E.A.R.T approach to Interpretation.

#timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters  #HEARTApproach #InterpretiveConnections #VoicesOfInterpretation #NPS #ABMC

Michael Stuckey had a career of many decades with National Park Service working in both natural and cultural history parks in a variety of roles, but especially in interpretation. He tells his own story well, "Born in Los Angeles and somehow history grabbed me early on. I began to explore how to work with it professionally. Richmond Battlefield in Virginia was my first park and from there I was able to work in a dozen other parks and sites – natural and historical – and feel that the 33 years where the most wonderful one could imagine. My favorite park? Historically there is a tie between Antietam and Pearl Harbor, and the natural park is hands down, Yosemite.  

Interpretation has always been my focus, but I have worn many hats including law enforcement, resources management, wildland fire, management, acting Superintendent, and a special niche in living history. I worked with the Interpretive Development Program for several years as an instructor and that taught me tons about how interpretation can and should work.  

#timmerriman #heritageinterpretation #NationalParks  #PublicLands #ConservationConversation #ParksLeadership  #NatureTalks #Park

Monique Thompson, CIT, is a Restorative Justice practitioner, nature enthusiast, and expert in interpretive education. Her programs inspire community connection and inclusivity, with a focus on environmental and personal well-being. She has been engaged in the education field for over 25 years as an instructor, collaborator, and learner. Early in her career she taught English as a Second Language to young people in Mozambique while serving in the Peace Corps. Since 2019 she has been a very active trainer of CIGs  with National Association for Interpretation. 

https://timfmerriman.podbean.com/

#timmerriman  #InterpretationMatters  #HEARTApproach #InterpretiveConnections #VoicesOfInterpretation #raindropnaturalist

Matt Villamaino, Bill Gwaltney, Toby Merriman, and Tim Merriman gather on Zoom to explore the role of Artificial Intelligence in heritage interpretation—with a focus on authenticity, ethics, and emerging opportunities. Toby Merriman, MFA, serves as Assistant Director of the Center for Virtual Expression at Southern Illinois University, where he supports faculty in integrating AI, virtual reality, and gamification into teaching and research. This dynamic discussion examines how these technologies might enhance both interpretive training and the design of meaningful visitor experiences.