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| WELCOME
FROM NAI'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tim Merriman, Ph.D. |
I
will never forget my first acquaintance with NAI’s parent organizations,
the Association of Interpretive Naturalists (AIN) and Western Interpreters
Association (WIA) in
1974. A former employer, Dr. Paul Yambert at Southern Illinois University,
mentioned that the aforementioned groups were having a joint national
workshop. I was working as a naturalist at Giant City State Park,
just south of Southern Illinois University in Carbonale, Ill. I applied
to attend the meeting without really knowing what it was. The workshop
was held at Asilomar Conference Grounds in Monterey, Calif., and
it was magical.On the first day at the workshop, I stood in line waiting to go into the dining hall for one of their sumptuous family-style dinners. A woman near me was explaining what you could learn by looking at whale spouts. From our vantage point overlooking the Pacific Ocean, we could see the distinctive water spouts created by migrating gray whales. I had never seen a whale. I was mystified by my colleague’s ability to interpret the sex and possible ages of the whales in the distance just from the shape and size of the spouts. And yet I knew I had similar skills in an oak-hickory woodlands in southern Illinois with redtail hawks, not gray whales. The sharing of techniques and ideas that week was inspirational. The best of that week was time in the field and at a puppet show with Josh Barkin, chief naturalist at Tilden Park, one of the premier interpretive sites of the East Bay Regional Park District outside San Francisco. Josh was an interpreter’s interpreter. He was as comfortable interpreting a supermarket or gutter in Oakland as he was interpreting redwood forests in the Berkeley Hills. I was inspired by the rich exchange among interpreters in attendance. I was hooked. I wanted to be at future meetings of these associations at every opportunity. Through the years, I missed a few national meetings but became heavily involved with the regional organization and for many years was a newsletter editor. In 1984 I was elected president of the Association of Interpretive Naturalists. Working with many dedicated members, we managed in 1988 to forge a consolidation between AIN and WIA, and NAI was born from merging the two groups. For more than 50 years, NAI has served members in a variety of ways to enourage networking, training and collaboration. We welcome all people to join who have an interest in interpretation of natural and cultural resources in a wide variety of settings, including parks, zoos, museums, nature centers, aquaria and industry. Volunteers, docents, interpreters, naturalists, historians, rangers, park guards, guides, tour operators, program directors, consultants, academicians, suppliers and institutions are part of this growing network. Membership in the past two years has grown from 2,350 to more than 3,500. NAI’s mission, “Inspiring leadership and excellence to advance heritage interpretation as a a profession,” is pursued through a wide variety of services— national and regional workshops, interpretive skills and management training, Legacy magazine, the Journal of Interpretation Research, professional certification, and newsletters of diverse kinds. Members working as volunteers in regions, sections and chapters create the real assets of the profession—colleagues helping colleagues to grow in their knowledge, competencies and enthusiasm. If you work in some aspect of the field of heritage interpretation, we hope you will join us. We have a variety of membership options for individuals and organizations. You will find this network of dedicated interpretive professionals to be very helpful and caring. Through time we work, learn and laugh together, and the process is enriching. Colleagues become like an extended family of very dear friends. As Executive Director, I feel very lucky to work for and among friends who care about preserving and interpreting the natural and cultural heritage of the world. Please call me toll-free at 888-900-8283 or email me at naiexec@aol.com if you have any question at all. Best wishes with your work or interests. |
| About NAI Quick Links Contact
NAI |
| National Association for Interpretation | 888-900-8283 |