I have been employed in the museum and heritage sectors since 2003 as an archaeology and social history curator, and collections management specialist. I am passionate about objects in museums and the stories they can tell - but I have a pragmatic approach that many museums contain items that deflect from their institutional mission.

Throughout my career I have worked with independent museums, Local Authority museums, Charitable Trusts, and National organisations including the Museums Association and the Collections Trust.

As a freelance consultant I share my expertise in collections review and disposal, to help museums become more confident to manage their own collections, and to develop transparency to this difficult work. 

Alongside my practical knowledge I am a skilled researcher and writer. My ground-breaking book “Deaccessioning Museum Objects” will be published by Routledge in 2025. I have also contributed book chapters about reinvigorating under-used collections, the role of disposal within other object removal formats, and the ethics of financially-motivated disposal. Find links to these here.

Sample Clients:

• Manchester Art Gallery: 'Taking Stock' project (Collections Review framework and workshop facilitation)
• West Midlands Museum Development: First Steps in Collections Disposal (Online workshop)
• Museums Association: 'Future of Collections: Disposal' (Chairperson)
• Historic England: 'National Collection of Archaeological Archives

  Operating Model: Museum and Research Institution Needs' (Project Investigator)

• University College London: Institute of Archaeology (Guest Lecturer)

Networks and roles:

• Museums Association Ethics Committee
  
• Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

Former roles:

• Archives and Records Association (Museum Liaison Officer)
• Society for Museum Archaeology (committee member)
• Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society (committee member)