Experience

Detroit Zoological Society

• United States
• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Senior Manager of Guest Experience Design

  • Sep 2022 - Present

  Royal Oak, Michigan, United States

• Curator of Exhibit Design

  • Nov 2017 - Sep 2022

  Greater Detroit Area Lead the development of interpretive exhibits that support the Detroit Zoological Society’s (DZS) mission at the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center. Oversee physical and digital interpretive development to ensure a positive guest experience that moves the mission of the DZS forward. - Define the experience vision for interactive development. - Manage our graphic design team to support the overarching DZS brand. - Lead and facilitate staff workshops for design visioning. -… Show more Lead the development of interpretive exhibits that support the Detroit Zoological Society’s (DZS) mission at the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center. Oversee physical and digital interpretive development to ensure a positive guest experience that moves the mission of the DZS forward. - Define the experience vision for interactive development. - Manage our graphic design team to support the overarching DZS brand. - Lead and facilitate staff workshops for design visioning. - Guide exhibit evaluation efforts, including front-end, formative, remedial, and summative work. - Collaborate with cross-departmental teams in construction planning and execution. - Coordinate with vendors in the creation and installation of exhibit elements. - Manage the exhibits budget. - Present concepts and updates to key stakeholders, including trustees, staff and donors.



Museum of Science

• United States
• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Senior Exhibit Content Developer

  • Jan 2012 - Nov 2017

  Greater Boston Area Lead the project team in creating the overall content foundation upon which visitor experiences were built. Oversaw content development as a whole to ensure a coherent, engaging, accurate visitor experience including exhibit components, media elements, and visitor programs. Served as the project team’s internal content lead and spokesperson for the content, presenting at deliverable meetings with Senior Management, Trustees, and funders. Defined learning goals and messages for exhibits… Show more Lead the project team in creating the overall content foundation upon which visitor experiences were built. Oversaw content development as a whole to ensure a coherent, engaging, accurate visitor experience including exhibit components, media elements, and visitor programs. Served as the project team’s internal content lead and spokesperson for the content, presenting at deliverable meetings with Senior Management, Trustees, and funders. Defined learning goals and messages for exhibits, wrote label copy, animation storyboards, and scripts, and worked with researchers and practitioners to maintain the most up-to-date scientific knowledge in exhibits. Worked in collaboration with project team to develop a detailed prototyping, fabrication, and remediation plan. Tied all content and visitor experiences to appropriate curricula benchmarks. Selected artifacts, animals, and objects that fulfilled visitor experience goals. Show less



Self Employed

• Exhibit and program evaluator

  • Sep 2011 - Jul 2012

  Worked with museums to focus their goals and develop an evaluation plan for a range of exhibits and programs. After creating appropriate evaluation mechanisms, conducted front end, formative, and summative evaluations, as needed. Data was analyzed and the museum was presented with a final report.

• Fabric artist

  • Sep 2011 - Jan 2012

  Created fabric components for hands on, interactive exhibits. These projects included American Beech and Sugar maple leaves for a preschool area, colored flags for a museum entry driveway, and 7' tall fabric wind socks.



Montshire Museum of Science

• United States
• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Exhibits Assistant

  • Nov 2010 - Sep 2011

  Evaluated exhibits, wrote and edited label copy, designed exhibit layouts, oversaw the aquariums, managed state and federal animal permits, negotiated contracts and rented traveling exhibits

• Education Associate

  • Sep 2009 - Nov 2010

  Trained and supervised seasonal explaining staff, designed educational programming based on exhibits, led family and school group activities, taught preschool program

• Marketing Assistant

  • Oct 2009 - Sep 2010

  Designed print advertising, managed website and social networking updates, photographed events, wrote science content for newspaper and radio

• Exhibits Intern

  • Mar 2009 - Sep 2009

  Wrote and edited label copy, cataloged avian collection, installed traveling exhibits



Borders

• Retail
• 700 & Above Employee

• Merchandise Supervisor

  • Sep 2006 - Jul 2008

  Ames, Iowa, United States



William G. Thompson House Museum

• Curatorial Intern

  • Aug 2005 - Dec 2005

  Designed online gallery of historic lighting fixtures, labeled and cataloged jade collection