Reflections on Interpretation: Talking Story with Guides and Interpreters

With more than 32 years of experience in interpretation with the National Park Service, Susan brings a depth of wisdom shaped by service, leadership, and a passion for meaningful connection. Her career began as an intern and quickly progressed to a seasonal interpreter, permanent park guide, and ultimately Park Ranger Interpreter. Along the way, she supervised and mentored interpretive staff, championed audience-cente...

Dominic Cardea (Dom) recently retired after a 34 year National Park Service career spent turning big ideas—geology, history, culture, and community—into invitations to be curious. He helped shape and facilitate national interpretation and leadership programs, coached frontline interpreters, and trained hundreds in digital interpretation. A curious philosopher at heart, Dom loves the “why” behind a place and its object...

Join us for a powerful conversation with Karen Cucurullo, a seasoned leader with nearly 35 years in the National Park Service. From Manassas to Death Valley, Karen has served in diverse roles, from interpretation and education to resource management and law enforcement. Before retiring she supervised in the Southeast Regional Office, supporting parks and communities across 9 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Is...

Heather Holm is the Chief of the Interpretation and Education Division of California State Parks and is the guest of Tim Merriman and Bill Gwaltney on Reflections on Interpretation: Talking Story with Guides and Interpreters podcast. Heather has 22 years of experience in interpretation, having worked in various positions in California State Parks. Her work experience includes interpretive program development and facil...

Tim Merriman and Bill Gwaltney talk story with Daniel Martinez on Reflections on Interpretation. For historian Daniel Martinez, history isn’t just something to study—it’s something you feel. After 44 years with the National Park Service, most recently as historian at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Martinez reflects on a career dedicated to keeping the past vividly alive.

From his own family’s memories of December 7, 1941 to hi...

Gary Candelaria brings a lifetime of dedication to America’s public lands to this episode of Reflections on Interpretation: Talking Story with Guides and Interpreters. Raised in Los Angeles and inspired early on to become a park ranger, he pursued that dream through a forestry degree at Oregon State University before entering the prestigious Intake Ranger program in 1975. His first assignment at Saratoga National Hist...

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 Natio...

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 immers...

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 t...

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...

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 suppor...

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 th...

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...

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 a...

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...

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...

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. ...

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 p...

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