The Yellowstone Park Foundation will work over four years to develop, evaluate and install exhibits and integrated educational programs for a state-of-the-art visitor education center at Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park. This facility will help the nearly 2.6 million on-site annual visitors and the tens of millions of on-line visitors understand and appreciate the most significant display of geysers and hot springs on Earth and the unique microbial life forms that live in these thermal waters. The exhibits and programs will focus on current and emerging research critical to understanding issues and solving environmental problems facing society today. Visitors and distance learners will understand why research on Yellowstone's hot springs has spurred advances in various scientific and technological fields, and how the natural processes occurring there affect their everyday lives.
In addition to the various scientific perspectives presented, the ideas about Yellowstone held by early explorers and visitors, artists and Native Americans will help make the exhibits and related programs relevant to a broader audience. The exhibits and audiovisual media will be multi-lingual, using the most appropriate current technology to present information in the four major non-English languages spoken by Yellowstone visitors. A special emphasis will be placed on the development of curriculum-based activities that serve school groups from the tri-state area surrounding the park, including virtual field trips for students.
