Summary: EarthScope Cascadia Interpretive Workshop

The EarthScope National Office (ESNO) sponsored an inaugural workshop for interpretive professionals on April 7-10 at the Mt. Rainier National Park Education Center in Tahoma Woods, Washington (details and agenda at www.earthscope.org/es_doc/eno/workshops/Mt_Rainier_Details.pdf). The workshop brought together individuals from the scientific and informal educational communities to learn about EarthScope and develop interpretive programs to engage park and museum visitors on how advanced geophysical instrumentation enhances our understanding of landscape formation and geological hazards in the Pacific Northwest. There were 28 participants representing parks, museums, and other informal education centers in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, British Columbia, and Alaska. Organizations included the National Park Service; U. S. Forest Service; state parks of Oregon, Washington, and California; state geological surveys of Washington and Oregon; the Pacific Geoscience Center of the Geological Survey of Canada; Oregon Paleo Lands Institute; OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center; Oregon Shakes; Olympic Park Institute; Mt. St. Helens Institute; and Orting High School.

The three-day workshop combined presentations by EarthScope scientists with interpretive methods to convey the story of the ongoing deformation of the edge of the North American continent. Participants learned how to use EarthScope data and science results, and developed and presented interpretive programs on the evolving landscape and earthquake, tsunami, and volcanic hazards of the Pacific Northwest. One of the fundamental aspects of EarthScope is the integration of many types of observations to study the structure and evolution of the continent. Two challenges facing the EarthScope community include providing the public with access to timely EarthScope science and presenting complex data and related principles in language and formats accessible to varied audiences. The workshop showed how incorporating EarthScope data and scientific results into interpretive programs and exhibits enhances the "sense of place" represented by the dynamic landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

Instructors for the workshop included scientists from the University of Washington, Central Washington University, the University of Portland, Oregon State University, UNAVCO (www.unavco.org), the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (www.iris.edu), and the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory (http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov). Some of their PowerPoint presentations are available at www.earthscope.org/workshops/mt_rainier/presentations. Workshop participants are being encouraged to participate in the 2009 EarthScope National Meeting (http://www.earthscope.org/meetings/national_meeting_09) so that they can learn more about EarthScope and showcase how they are using EarthScope in their interpretive programs and exhibits.

The EarthScope National Office is working with IRIS and UNAVCO to develop a Cascadia Subduction Zone module for the IRIS Active Earth interpretive computer kiosk (www.iris.edu/about/ENO/aed.htm). Proposals were submitted by some of the organizations represented at the workshop and, as a result, kiosks will be placed at Redwood National and State Parks, the Oregon Whale Watching Center, and Oregon Paleolands Institute.

A second EarthScope interpretive workshop on October 19-22, 2008 in Reno, Nevada focused on the Basin and Range Province (www.earthscope.org/workshops/basin_range). Future workshops are planned during the next three years for the San Andreas Fault, Colorado Plateau – Rio Grande Rift, Yellowstone Hotspot, and Rocky Mountains (www.earthscope.org/eno/parks). There are plans to build on the momentum of the EarthScope Cascadia Interpretive Workshop by organizing workshops to focus on more detailed content and interpretive strategies for the staffs at specific parks and museums. The EarthScope National Office is also collaborating with IRIS, UNAVCO, and some of the organizations participating in the Cascadia workshop to develop training aimed in the other direction. That is, EarthScope scientists will be taught interpretive methods so that they can present EarthScope science results more effectively to a variety of audiences. The first such workshop for scientists is planned for the 2009 EarthScope National Meeting in Boise (www.earthscope.org/meetings/national_meeting_09_pre_meeting_workshops).