Notes from the Board

MER is pleased to introduce its new board members, who represent museum education from all corners of the country.

Jill Overlie has been the Curator of Education at Longmont Museum & Cultural Center (Colorado) for about seven years.  In that role she plans, researches, develops, implements, and evaluates educational programs and activities related to exhibitions and other events. Jill works closely with the Latino community on an on-going basis and  collaborates with Longmont community organizations to develop special educational events.  She researched and developed the museum’s first docent program as well as the museum’s first teen volunteer program.

Jill serves as chair of the Front Range Educators’ Roundtable which includes educators from institutions representing art, history, science, zoos, nature centers, botanic gardens and regional and national parks in the Denver Metro area. 

Julia Rose is the Director of the West Baton Rouge Museum (Louisiana). She has been a career museum educator since 1983 and continues to be an advocate for museum education. She served as a member of the Museum Education Roundtable program committee in the early 1980s when living in the D.C. area.  She used that wonderful experience to found the Knoxville Area Museum Education Roundtable (KAMER) in the 1990s and later the Baton Rouge Area Museum Education Roundtable.

Over the years, Julie has worked as a museum educator in three museums before working as an assistant professor in museum studies. Her research is focused on ethical representations of slave life interpretations in museum settings.

Sarah Marcotte is Education Programs Manager at Kidspace Children's Museum (Pasadena, California). She currently maintains the Museum Educators of Southern California (MESC) website and has been leading the effort to fundraise for a complete website overhaul that will serve its membership by creating a dynamic, self-sustaining online community.

In June 2007 Sarah organized a full-day MESC Annual Institute on education technology in museums. She is the Chair of the 2008 Muse Awards for the Standing Professional Committee on Media and Technology for American Association of Museums.

Nancy Richner is a Program Manager at the Nassau County Museum of Art (New York) and is particularly interested in making museums accessible to diverse audiences. Recently, she served as the coordinator of the newly-established Long Island Arts in Education Roundtable.

Nancy was Assistant Director of Education at MoMA, taught at Bank Street College of Education and was chair of the New York City Museum Educators Roundtable. In 1993, she was named NAEA’s Museum Educator of the Year for the Eastern US.  She feels we have a great deal to learn from our peers, our audiences and those who represent them; and it is this dialogue which she intends to help MER foster.

Jill Dixon is the executive director at the World of Scouting Museum (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania). Previously, she was the Director of Education at the Chester County Historical Society. She has been in the museum field for 14 years, working mostly at mid-size and small institutions.

As both an educator and museum director, Jill is committed to making museums fun for students, families and adults.  She has created programs that bring together history and science for school audiences, created lecture series, written interpretive guides and put together exhibits—along with a myriad of other jobs that come with working in smaller institutions.

Karen Daly is the Education Director at Dumbarton House, a Federal period historic house museum in Wasington, DC accredited by the American Association of Museums. Responsible for interpretation and programming, she oversees development of mission-based youth and public programs and manages a vibrant volunteer association to support programs.  Karen has an MAT in Museum Education from The George Washington University, and came to Dumbarton House after teaching 4th grade in the DC Public School system for 2 years. She is particularly interested in using technology to help small museums reach larger and more diverse audiences and will be presenting a conference session about interactive website development on a shoe-string budget at the 2008 Small Museum Association conference.