National Eagle Center: Interpretive Exhibit Plan for Permanent Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Exhibit

Working with a consulting exhibit development firm, the NEC developed learning targets, interpretive themes, and key messages for the Refuge exhibit. These interpretive themes have helped the NEC to develop a clear plan for the Refuge exhibit. The resulting conceptual exhibit plan has helped the NEC to move into other phases of exhibit development, as we had projected.

We expected more preliminary audience engagement to be part of this project than we actually achieved. Some preliminary audience evaluation was done with NEC staff and volunteers. They were asked to comment on what information would be most interesting and valuable in an exhibit about the Refuge. Our initial target was to get formal visitor input prior to the start of this project, however, we did not find an effective way of reaching out to visitors about this future exhibit. Although no formal visitor input was gathered, NEC staff and USFWS gathered informal feedback from visitors. The preliminary input from volunteers informed the topics of interest and key questions people have about the Refuge, which in turn shaped some of the key messages and interpretive themes of the exhibit plan.

NEC staff has taken an active role in the research and planning of this exhibit. This is a key progress indicator on the NEC