Kerr, Mike

"I went to UBC to earn a Bachelor of Forestry Degree specializing in resource management. Won the Gold Medal for Academic Achievment in the final year of university, destined for a long career in forestry, but something happened . . . (actually one of my mentors in the forestry program told me on my last day of school that he thought I wasn't destined for forestry - that I would go crazy talking to the trees, that I needed something with more creative interaction with people ... but he didn't know what that could possibly be). I ran a summer forestry educational camp for kids in Vanoucer starting in 1984. Only realized afterwards that what I was doing was something called "interpretation". I began working as a summer interpreter for Parks Canada in Banff National Park the summer of 1986. I had applied that winter after reading a job poster at my forestry faculty employment board at UBC. I didn't know what an interpreter was, but I applied for the job anyway. I was supposed to go working in Ottawa that year for a remote sensing company, but the contract fell through at the 11th hour, the same day I got a call to start working in Banff three weeks late for the summer season. I worked in various positions full time in Banff, including the Mountain Guide Newsletter coordinator, Acting Manager of Historic Sites, and as summer Seasonal Interpreter in the Banff Townsite and Saskatchewan Crossing areas.

In 1989 I started work full time in Lake Louise as an Interpretive Planner/Generalist type. I worked on the development of the Lake Louise Visitor Centre and supervised the interpretive summer program for Lake Louise.

In 1990 I took over as the Manager for Interpretation for Lake Louise, which included responsibilities for the Information Centre, all exhibits and communications programs in the Lake Louise area/north half of Banff Park. Spent a lot of time developing partnerships with local businesses and developing programs to educate local business staff. Also I hosted an interpretive skills training video.

In 1995 I went back to Banff townsite to work as the Acting Manager of Heritage Communications for the Park, during a major period of downsizing and reorganizing. Communications department was dismantled and I was shuffled off to be the Communications Manager for the Ecosystem Secretariat at the Banff Warden office for my final year with Parks. I left Parks Canada in 1997 to start my own company, Speaking of Ideas, which does private interpretation consulting and programs, plus corporate training and speaking on humour in the workplace and business creativity. Interpretation is about 30-40% of what I currently do. I was a member of the Alberta Section Executive for Interpretation Canada since 1993 to the present (1998). I have presented workshops at both NAI and IC conferences on interpretive coaching, creativity and humour in interpretation. During my time in Parks Canada I went from being a naturalist to a park interpreter to a heritage communicator. I've published When Do You Let the Animals Out? A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Humour, Fifth House Publishers, 1998, and have written a Wildlife Viewing Guide to the Canadian Rockies, also by Fifth House Publishing, due out in the spring of 1999. Two of my earliest mentors would have been Al Williams and Heather Dempsey, two long time, veteran interpreters with Banff, and Brian Patton, author of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide. I think Interpretation probably both broadened and changed my outlook and perspective on many issues, particularly environmental issues. Also helped nurture my creative side, which I think was something I was deeply missing before in previous jobs. It also helped me regain my youthful passion for the outdoors and wildlife. And (whew) I think presenting to large audiences helped my overall confidence level in a number of unrelated areas of my work and personal life. Oh yes, it was also a great way to meet women."