Part of a series of articles titled Park Paleontology News - Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 2023.
Article
Expanding Access to Learning about Paleontology through Interpretive Programming in Spanish at Waco Mammoth National Monument
Leonardo Maduro-Salvarrey, Interpretation and Education Intern
Waco Mammoth National Monument, Texas
Introduction
The Pleistocene fossils at Waco Mammoth National Monument, discovered in 1978, represent a megafaunal community that existed in Waco, Texas, during the Ice Age. Thousands of years ago, the area between the Bosque and Brazos Rivers was a grassland inhabited by a diversity of wildlife, including giant ground sloths, saber-toothed cats, and Columbian mammoths. The 16 mammoth fossils uncovered during the first phase of excavation, between 1979 and 1982, were left in situ for a short time before being brought to the Strecker (now Mayborn) Museum on Baylor University’s Campus. The onsite fossils unearthed during the second phase of excavation in 1990 remain in situ within the site’s Dig Shelter (Figures 1 & 2). Construction of the Dig Shelter began in 2008 with the site opening as a city-owned park in 2009. The ongoing partnership between the City of Waco, Baylor University, and Waco Mammoth Foundation, having expanded to include the National Park Service in 2015, has allowed for the continued preservation of fossil heritage at the site while making it accessible to visiting audiences from around the world.
The fossils preserved at Waco Mammoth National Monument consist of two distinct layers of sediment dating between approximately 65,000 and 51,000 years ago (Nordt et al. 2015). In situ specimens include the remains of five Columbian mammoths, as well as a Western camel, an unidentified animal, and several tortoise fragments. The lower layer preserved what is thought to be the only known Columbian mammoth nursery herd ever found, making Waco Mammoth National Monument the site of a unique paleontological discovery.
Spanish Programming at the Monument
Waco Mammoth National Monument utilizes many different forms of community outreach to inform the public on the geoheritage and fossil resources at the site. Such initiatives include hosting special events at the site, as well as participating in STEM and career-related outreach events at museums, local schools, libraries, and community centers. A newer component to the site’s outreach initiatives for the local community is the translation of site resources and services into Spanish. A large percentage of Waco’s population is Hispanic, and many individuals in this demographic speak Spanish as their first language. This is representative of many places in the U.S. where people of minority identities constitute large percentages of the population. However, this demographic diversity is underrepresented in STEM fields, particularly in the geosciences, as a result of historical marginalization and the general lack of accessibility of higher academia. This has led to a lack of diversity in insight and experiences when approaching questions of how Earth’s systems impact all of us (Bernard and Cooperdock 2018). One of the most effective ways to foster broader participation in a field is through amplifying linguistic accessibility, and as such Waco Mammoth National Monument has begun to provide in-Spanish resources and experiences for a greater diversity of audiences in person as well as off-site.
In-Spanish programming at the Waco Mammoth National Monument has, over the past eight months, included guided tours in Spanish and translated lesson plans for education and outreach programs (Figure 3). These lesson plans cover state and national standards and contain activities that introduce students to concepts of the fossil record, ecosystem interactions, and evolution while utilizing the Monument’s primary resource, Columbian mammoths, as a vehicle for these concepts. At the site, in-Spanish guided tours have been translated from a script written by federal interns in English, with a focus on the history of the site and the life of the nursery herd’s oldest member, Mammoth J. These tours have typically been hosted on weekends, and audience groups usually comprise families with members of all ages visiting the site. While schedule availability for this programming has been limited, feedback from attending audience members has been overwhelmingly positive, indicating not just an appreciation for linguistic accessibility of our site’s resources, but potentially a need for such accessibility for the local community and international audiences visiting the monument as well. The implementation of a self-guided audio-tour is also planned, which would provide more options for accessible experiences at the site. The initiative to translate education and interpretative programming and resources at the site is led by Lead Park Ranger Brycen Turnbull in partnership and consultation with Leonardo Maduro-Salvarrey, an education and interpretation intern with a bilingual upbringing and prior experience with translation work.
Conclusion
North America’s geoheritage is a history shared by everyone, and a story that should be accessible to anyone. To maintain the agency’s relevance and expand its appeal, the National Park Service must incorporate the country’s linguistic diversity. This will be achieved through initiatives like in-Spanish programming at Waco Mammoth National Monument and other NPS sites. Such interpretive programs in Spanish at Waco Mammoth National Monument may be the first of their kind for expanding access to learning about paleontology across the NPS. The improved accessibility of these initiatives will bring greater diversity and inclusivity to the parks, thus playing a vital role in the future reach of the NPS. Maduro-Salvarrey plans to continue work on translating educational resources and onsite programming into Spanish and hopes to continue his translation work about paleontological resources with the NPS and other organizations into the future.
References
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Bernard, R. E. & Cooperdock, E. H. G. 2018. No Progress on Diversity in 40 Years. Nature Geoscience 11: 292–295.
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Nordt, L., Bongino, J., Forman, S., Esker, D., and Benedict, A. 2015. Late Quaternary Environments of the Waco Mammoth Site, Texas USA. Quaternary Research 84 (3): 423–438.
Footnote:
Maduro-Salvarrey is a recent graduate of Georgia State University, where he was a Goizueta scholar in the Honors College and received his B.A. in Anthropology and a double minor in Art and Geosciences. His current role at the park is through the Conservation Legacy Stewards Individual Placement Program. Maduro-Salvarrey has previously worked on translating pedagogical resources into Spanish for the Paleontological Society and National Park Service, as well as researching the intersections of paleontology and culture and presenting on the need for more inclusive and accessible pedagogical practices in the geosciences.
To learn more about in-Spanish NPS resources for paleontology education, visit the story map on fossil footprints that Maduro-Salvarrey led the translation work for here:
Related Links
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Waco Mammoth National Monument, Texas—[Geodiversity Atlas] [Park Home] [npshistory.com]
Last updated: March 22, 2023