ABOUT ME
I am a curator, historian, researcher, writer, and leader. I love creating innovative and interactive exhibitions. I thrive doing so with a diverse group of people because I think we all do better when we give our expertise to each other. Rich teams make rich products: that's one of my mottos. I believe in empathetic management and servant leadership. Another motto? The healthier the team, the better the work.
The photo at left is me working with a creative developer and model maker.
Teamwork + Kindness + Creativity
"Creating museum exhibitions is not only research in books and archives. We bring in the human angle. We use interactives and artifacts. These are not abstractions, they are things people used and through them we tell stories."
John Maker
MEDIA APPEARANCES
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
GERMANY’S WESTERN FRONT: 1914
TRANSLATIONS FROM THE GERMAN OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR, PART 1
This multi-volume series in six parts is the first English-language translation of Der Weltkrieg, the German official history of the First World War. This volume, the second to be published, covers the outbreak of war in July–August 1914, the German invasion of Belgium, the Battles of the Frontiers, and the pursuit to the Marne in early September 1914.
GERMANY’S WESTERN FRONT: 1915
TRANSLATIONS FROM THE GERMAN OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR
This volume focuses on 1915, the first year of trench warfare. For the first time in the history of warfare, poison gas was used against French and Canadian troops at Ypres. Meanwhile, conflict raged in the German High Command over the political and military direction of the war.
THE YMCA AT WAR:
COLLABORATION AND CONFLICT DURING THE WORLD WARS
I wrote Chapter 10 of this volume: “Canadians for Canadians Only...It's Like a Paradise”: Sport, Leisure, and the Canadian YMCA in England during the Second World War
RECONCILIATION
This photo is from a trip I took to the Algonquins of Pikwakangan First Nation.
I work with Indigenous individuals and communities. I have changed museum mandates to include Indigenous history, I have liaised with the executive council of the Pikwakanagans of Ontario and met with the elders of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg. I sit on the City of Ottawa's Algonquin Anishinabe Nation Civic Cultural Protocol Committee, as well as the City's Aboriginal Working Committee where we work to take action on the City's response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
INTERPRETIVE PLANNER
2018-2020
Entro
Working with an innovative team in New York City, Toronto, and Syracuse, I developed, planned, researched, and wrote a permanent exhibition for a new state-of-the-art building on the Syracuse University campus in upstate New York.
MUSEUM ADMINISTRATOR (AKA: DIRECTOR OF EXHIBITIONS AND COLLECTIONS)
2018 - 2021
City of Ottawa Museums
Leading a diverse team of museum professionals. I am responsible for the Exhibitions, Collections, Audience Development, Volunteer Coordination, and Built Heritage functions at five municipal museums.
EXHIBITION DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH OFFICER
April 2017 - December 2018
City of Ottawa Museums
Curation, research, design, collaboration and creation at the five City of Ottawa owned museums.
HISTORIAN/CURATOR
2013-2017
Canadian War Museum
I worked hard to creative a collaborative and open team environment on every one of my projects, which included:
- Deadly Skies - Air War, 1914-1918 (A major national exhibition)
Oral History – A Century of Canadian Military Dentistry
Gallipoli – Three Perspectives
History in the Making: C.P. Stacey and Canadian Military Headquarters
Enemy Aliens – Internment in Canada, 1914-1920
Lebreton Gallery Interactive Zone
- Farley Mowat Memorial exhibition
- V-1 Flying Bomb Exhibition
D-Day Commemoration
Black History Month
Upgrade to Holocaust section
LECTURER
2008-2013
I taught at three universities
The University of Ottawa
History of New France
Carleton University
Canadian Military History, 1867-2001
The Making of Canada
Modern Britain, 1688 - 1955
The Cold War and Canadian External Relations, 1945-2001
Canadian External Relations in the Era of Mackenzie King – 1900-1950
Royal Military College
Canadian Military History, 1867 – Present
SENIOR RESEARCHER AND HISTORIAN
2010-2013
Canadian Development Consultants International
I researched and wrote historical, spatial, and risk assessment reports for the federal government. I also mentored others in to do this work.
ONLINE ARTICLES
