Speaking and participating
I have extensive experience of organising and participating in a wide variety of conferences and workshops, both in the UK and internationally, and including the development and production of publications based on conferences (editing, and working with publishers).
I am regularly invited to give keynotes, participate in debates and panel discussions, and to help develop and shape conferences and workshops. Conferences can be truly transformational experiences where we find collaborators, draw on best practice, think together, and work through common problems and capitalise on opportunities. Workshops, similarly, are extremely valuable as they are about people applying frameworks, models and knowledge to their own situations, challenges and opportunities. Workshops help ensure that people leave conferences and meetings with concrete ideas and actions that they have had a hand in developing.
Selected conferences organised:
Stemming the Tide: Global Strategies for Sustaining Cultural Heritage Through Climate Change, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, March 2020, member of organising committee, and moderator.
International Council of Museums Triennial, Kyoto, September 2019, member of organising committee for the strand on sustainability, leading the plenary session and developing an accompanying workshop
International Symposium on Climate Change and Museum, Manchester, 11–13 April 2018, co-organiser. Participants included the IPCC, UNFCCC, academics, museum professionals.
World Symposium on Climate Change Communication, 22-24 Feb 2017, Manchester, co-organiser. This conference brought together over 100 academics, practitioners and representations of NGOs (including the IPCC, World Meteorological Organisation and UNFCCC), from 25 countries, to present their work, share ideas and best practice.
Refloating the Ark: connecting scientists and the public with natural history museums, June 2015 (two days), Manchester (conference organiser). This conference brought together 110 museum workers, academics and representatives of nature conservation agencies to explore how to communicate environmental issues effectively to promote civic action, and to promote the use of natural heritage collections for research.
Selected conference presentations:
Museums and sustainability
November 2019, panel member and workshop organiser, museums and the Sustainable Development Goals, Network of European Museum Organisations, Tartu, Estonia.
September 2019, plenary panel discussant, Curating Sustainable Futures, ICOM Triennial Conference, Kyoto
September 2019, Keynote, natural history collections and global challenges, ICOM NatHist, ICOM Triennial Conference, Kyoto
May 2019, Keynote, museums and global issues, Finnish Museums Association Conference, Tampere, Finland.
April 2019, Museums and the Sustainable Development Goals, Australian Museum, Sydney.
March 2018, Global working and contemporary challenges/issues, (invited speaker), ICOM UK ‘working internationally’ conference, National Museum of Scotland.
November 2017, two panel sessions on Science Centres and Sustainable Development Goal 17 (Partnerships), and Engaging effectively around environmental issues, Science Centre World Congress, Tokyo.
January 2017, The next paradigm for sustainability: let’s create a story of positive change, Culture Action Europe, Budapest.
Use of collections
October 2019, natural history collections as research tools, Museums Association Annual Conference, Brighton (panel member)
December 2018, How can UK museum collections support the conservation of global biodiversity? (iposter), British Ecological Society Conference, Birmingham.
March 2016, Keynote, The role of university museum collections in science and society. Trondheim University, Norway, Conference as culmination of Norwegian Research Council’s strategic initiative to strengthen university museums.
Museums and climate change
June 2019, panel presentation, Museums and the Doha Work Programme Review, United Nations (UNFCCC), SB50, Bonn
May 2018, workshop facilitator and presenter, SB48 meeting, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Bonn, Germany. Invited facilitator.
April 2018, Climate change: a different narrative, Symposium on Climate Change and Museum, Manchester.
July 2017, ‘A strong sense of time: museums and climate change engagement’, 25th International Congress of History of Science and Technology, Rio de Janeiro.
May 2017, ‘Cities and museums fostering climate education and empowerment, (with Manchester Climate Change Agency), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 5th Dialogue on Action for Climate Empowerment, Bonn.
February 2017, Engaging people with climate change through museums, International Symposium on Climate Change Communication, Manchester.