The Catalyst: The Newsletter for Interpretation in California State Parks

Lessons from BIGI 13 True learning happens through community, not through top-down instruction. The Basic Interpretation for Guides and Interpreters (BIGI) training has always embraced a community learning style. In this January’s offering of the class, participants grappled with the tough stuff of our past, shared ideas and insights, and left the week feeling energized and empowered. Here are but a few of the tips and tricks that emerged from the BIGI community.    Gamify Your Program  In an age of apps and smartphones, everything from banking, to tracking your likes or dislikes of coffee, tea, and beer, offers a badge, ribbon, or some other electronic accolade. That’s not even to mention the opportunity for side-quests. People like to collect, track and earn points and rewards. So, why not harness the human desire to be rewarded by, for example, turning animal identification into a mystery to be solved? You could talk about food chains in an interpretive program, or you...

The North Beach Entrance at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve/State Beach (SNR/SB) has a new set of picnic tabletop panels thanks to a recent project between the San Diego Coast District (SDCD) and the Southern Service Center. The original panels were installed in January 2021 as part of accessibility improvements that included a new picnic area. The three bilingual panels were designed to be read from either side of the picnic table. Park staff has noticed that litter is not a problem in this area and that these “table runners” have definitely helped.  Last year, we noticed the panels were beginning to fade. SDCD had funds to replace the panels and SSC coordinated printing with a vendor using a powder coating process directly onto aluminum, rather than the high-pressure laminate process used on the original panels. SDCD installed the new panels a few days before January 2025.                   

Dockwalker Trainings Dockwalkers provide one-on-one outreach in local harbors to share best clean boating practices and help boaters appropriately discard of used oil and waste products. In 2025, the California Division of Boating and Waterways’ Boating Clean and Green Program is offering both virtual and in-person Dockwalker trainings. During the virtual trainings the instructor will be live and participants will be able to ask questions. A reminder to current Dockwalkers if you were trained 3 years ago it is time to get recertified. Please register for an upcoming training. Dockside Podcast Dockside is the podcast that helps you save and enjoy the waters you love by sharing clean and safe boating practices. This podcast is brought to you by the California State Parks and the California Coastal Commission. The most recent episode  features a conversation with Weston Boyles, the Founder and Executive Director of Rios to Rivers and Danielle Rey Frank, the Director of Development an...

The relationship between California State Parks and its volunteers is critical to our mission. The person who shoulders the responsibility of nurturing and assisting the staff who coordinate the many volunteers contributing their time and skills to our parks programs is Rachel Young, Volunteers in Parks Program Coordinator in the Partnerships Division. The Volunteers in Parks Program had been part of Interpretation and Education for forty years, before moving over to the Partnerships Division in 2018 along with Cooperating Associations, other nonprofit partners, and Concessions. Rachel began working with the department in May of 2018, about six months prior to the transition. The first big project was to roll out “Better Impact,” the statewide volunteer management software, which, among other things, tracks the hours and schedules of volunteers. Volunteer Coordinators in the field assume the responsibility of working with volunteers and maintaining a park’s volunteer program. When adde...

When I began working with California State Parks, it was shortly after COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted. I started as a park aide at Clear Lake State Park, newly introduced to "park life" and unaware of the incredible career opportunities this agency had to offer. My first glimpse into the world of interpretation came when I watched the district’s Interpreter II and III lead a PORTScast in the park. The program focused on soil, decomposers, and the life within the leaf litter—how's that for alliteration! I was tasked with manning the camera equipment, watching from the audience's perspective. What I saw was both interpreters lying on the ground, faces inches from the dirt, magnifying glasses in hand, rediscovering the soil and its creatures with childlike wonder. Their enthusiasm was contagious. I went home that day thinking, "I want to do that! I want to ignite that spark in someone! I would totally lie on the ground and poke through the dirt for a PORTS pr...

To celebrate Women’s History Month, California State Parks is hosting a Women's History Crawl at the Sonoma Barracks Saturday, March 1, 2025, from 11am-5pm. The event will provide a space for the community to come together to learn about, share information on, and celebrate women in California who have made a difference. The event will also include talks given by two sets of authors who will discuss their women centered books. For the history crawl, guests will “crawl” between eighteen organizations tabled in the Sonoma Barracks Courtyard to not only learn about the highlighted women, but to learn about the participating organizations, the services they provide and their future events. There were four key factors in working with the various organizations for this event. The first was to engage the organizations early to increase the chances they would be available, and to give them adequate time to think about the specifics of their role in the event. Beginning last November, email...