Reflections on Interpretation: Talking Story with Guides and Interpreters

Celeste Bernardo, Retired NPS Superintendent, Talks Story with Bill Gwaltney and Tim Merriman

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, of SIU Center for Virtual Expression, Talks Story about AI with Tim Merriman

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

Bill Gwaltney and Tim Merriman Talk Story about ABMC and Training

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, CIT, Talks Story with Bill Gwaltney and Tim Merirman on Reflections on Interpretation

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, Talks Story with Tim Merriman on Reflections on Interpretation

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

Toby Merriman, Matt Villamaino, Bill Gwaltney and Tim Merriman Talk Story about AI in Interpretation

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.

Marc Blackburn, NPS Historian and Interpreter, Joins Bill Gwaltney and Tim Merriman on Reflections on Interpretation!

Born and raised in California, Marc Blackburn’s love of history led him to the Pacific Northwest, where he earned a B.A. in history from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Inspired by a passion for teaching and the complexities of the American experience, he pursued graduate work at Temple University in Philadelphia. There, under the mentorship of the renowned historian Dr. Russell F. Weigley, Marc earned a Ph.D. with a focus on modern American military and diplomatic history.
What began as a summer job in 1987 as a seasonal park ranger at Independence National Historical Park turned into a lifelong calling. Over more than three decades, Marc has brought history to life in some of America’s most iconic and meaningful places—from the Klondike Gold Rush site in Seattle to the battlefields and sacred lands of the Nez Perce, and from the volcanic landscapes of Lava Beds and Tule Lake to the solemn grounds of Colonial National Historical Park, where he currently serves as Manager of Visitor Experience and Community Engagement.
Now based in Virginia’s historic Tidewater region with his wife, Marc continues to share stories that connect people to the past, illuminate the present, and inspire stewardship for the future.

Matt Villamaino Joins Tim Merriman and Bill Gwaltney Today on Reflections on Interpretation

Matt Villamaino has worked in the interpretive field for over 15 years, not counting the dinosaur museum he and a friend started in his basement at age 8. He currently works for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation as the Regional Interpretive Coordinator for the Central Region. He is a Certified Interpretive Trainer, Planner, and Heritage Interpreter and has worked and done training in iconic places like the USS Constitution, Pilgrim Memorial State Park and Springfield Armory NHS in living history and interpretive roles.
https://timfmerriman.podbean.com/
#timmerriman #interpretationservices #interpretation #heritageinterpretation 

David Larsen's Legacy for Interpretive Training

David Larsen (1960-2011) was a National Park Service Interpretive Ranger who became the Manager of Interpretive Training with National Park Service (NPS) at The Mather Employee Development Center. After many years as a frontline interpreter at sites such as the the Vietnam Memorial and Harper's Ferry National Historic Park, David stepped up to become a leader in Interpretive thought, philosophy, and training.
 
Bill Gwaltney, Connie Rudd, and Kim Sikoryak were colleagues and collaborators with David during his training years and knew him well. Tim Merriman interviews the trio on “Reflections on Interpretation” about the enduring impact David's philosophy on training and the conceptual framework of Interpretation that has impacted the entire profession of heritage interpretation.
Thanks is due NPS for our use of short clips of David speaking via a series of 5-videos available on youtube.com. We highly recommend you watch the entire series of about one hour and fifteen minutes. David's excellent interactive book entitled “Meaningful Interpretation” published by the Eastern National Cooperating Association is available through the association. 

Tim Merriman is interviewed by Bill Gwaltney about the HEART Train the Trainers Program

Today Tim Merriman is interviewed by Bill Gwaltney about the HEART Train the Trainers Program. This innovative new training program for the fundamentals of the interpretive approach to communication began in October of 2024 and is now being used by many experienced trainers as a more affordable approach to training new hires, seasonal guides, docents and other frontline workers at parks, zoos, museums, nature centers, historic sites and tour companies. It includes the application of Artificial Intelligence in development of new programs, tours and presentations. Available now at
https://timfmerriman.podbean.com/
or by YouTube at
https://youtu.be/ObEolw2Bd74
#heritageinterpretation #timmerriman #interpretivetraining