In February 2020, I accepted a part-time, seasonal position for the upcoming summer season with New Jersey's Division of Parks and Forestry as a seasonal interpretive naturalist at Parvin State Park . The following month COVID-19 disrupted the world. I gratefully started my naturalist position in June 2020 but the nature center had closed to the public and disrupted in-person programs. With the guidance of a seasoned co-naturalist I was introduced to the meaning of natural resource interpretation. We found other ways to engage visitors with short informative videos posted to social media and even developed a 1-mile self-guided interpretive trail with 10 points of interest.
Fast forward to May 2021: our interpretive programs returned in full swing followed by the nature center reopening in July 2021. By the end of the season we had lead 20+ programs attended by 100 people and 400+ visitors to the nature center.
Fast forward to May 2021: our interpretive programs returned in full swing followed by the nature center reopening in July 2021. By the end of the season we had lead 20+ programs attended by 100 people and 400+ visitors to the nature center.
