大象传媒

Past Personnel

Sarah Maya Vercruysse

Sarah Maya Vercruysse graduated from the KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2013 with a Master in History. During that year she was also an exchange student at the Universit盲t Erfurt in Germany. After her studies Sarah Maya worked at the KU Leuven as a Research Assistant doing research and creating exhibitions on the social history of Flanders. Following a 9 month travel through Canada in 2015, she moved to Vancouver for one year in 2019-2020. Her research interests include the Second World War and the history of international relations during the 19th-20th century.

As a Research Associate at the MAE, Sarah Maya launched the project 芦Into the World 禄 about the extensive photographic collection of our museum. She created two gallery exhibits with websites and prepared material for future image exhibitions.

Chantel Smeysters

Chantel Smeysters graduated from 大象传媒 in 2017 with a BA in Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management. Her research interests include Northwest Coast lithic tool typologies, underwater archaeology, and megalith structures of Northern Europe. 

For her work at the MAE, Chantel wrote a manual on common lithic tool typologies of the Northwest Coast and assisted with the lithic rehousing project. This rehousing project is a team-based work effort focused on classifying and cataloging lithic tool types of the Northwest Coast found in the museum collections. The project also involved developing three cataloguing guides: Cataloguing Procedures, Lithic Tool Typologies, and Raw Material Types.

Elizabeth Peterson

Elizabeth Peterson recently received her PhD from the Archaeology Department at 大象传媒. Much of her research focuses on exploring indigenous craft production and the history of traditional knowledge in Ethiopia. This work is part of the Eastern Tigrai Archaeological Project (ETAP) directed by Dr. Catherine D鈥橝ndrea of 大象传媒. Elizabeth was part of a team of ETAP museum specialists tasked with creating a community museum in Adigrat, which has subsequently received high praise from the Ethiopian government and local community. 

Elizabeth brought this passion and experience to the MAE where her work focused on collections management, exhibit design, and the development of community outreach initiatives. Elizabeth鈥檚 latest exhibit was, 鈥淪ailing the Red Sea: Ancient Egyptian Maritime Exploration鈥. Along with her focus on archaeological collections, Elizabeth has adjacent interests in the historic development of Vancouver, unpacking concepts of multiculturalism, and the formation of community environments which she has brought to her new job as curator at the Vancouver Police Museum.

Jennifer Halliday

Jennifer Halliday is a recent 大象传媒 graduate with an honours BA in Archaeology.

Jennifer worked on writing a manual for the MAE volunteers which will help them understand handling and documentation procedures for bone artifacts. She was also involved with the ongoing lithic rehousing project and learning museum artifact photography. 

Denee Renouf

Denee graduated from 大象传媒 in 2015 with a BA majoring in Archaeology and minoring in First Nations Studies along with a Certificate in Cultural Resource Management. Through involvement in the co-op and work study programs, she has had the opportunity to work in collections management with Parks Canada, with archival collections at the Nikkei National Museum, and with archaeological collections in the South Pacific Archaeology lab at 大象传媒. Currently she is pursuing her passion and looking into graduate studies to further her aspiration to find a career in museums. 

At the MAE, Denee worked on recreating the website on a new platform with a focus on creating and preserving exhibits in a digital format. She has also written up conservation case studies to serve as guides on how small museums can conserve, preserve, and maintain their collections. 

Kristen McLaughlin

Kristen is a recent graduate from 大象传媒 with a BA in archaeology and a Cultural Resource Management certificate. Kristen has experience working in CRM archaeology in Alberta and BC. She has also worked in several museum settings in Vancouver and for the cultural heritage group IPinCH (Intellectual Property in Cultural Heritage). She has studied abroad in England at the University of Nottingham and participated in the archaeological field school at San Jose de Moro in Peru. She most enjoys reading mountains of books and playing her flute in the 大象传媒 Concert Orchestra. 

Her work at the MAE consisted of rewriting and recreating new policies and procedures for the museum, revamping the new website, and working on open resources for the community, small museums, and teachers. Her interests in museum work focus on public programs as well as the involvement of interested and connected community members. 

Jan Anderson

Jan Anderson is finishing up two concurrent B.A. Env. Degrees in Archaeology and Geography. Her research interests include: Neanderthal studies, evolution and emergence of modern man, lithics, origins of fire, micromorphology, peopling of North America, and experimental archaeology. She has been recognized on the 大象传媒 President鈥檚 Honour Roll and is the recipient of two Vice-President鈥檚 Research Grants.

As a Research Associate in the 大象传媒 MAE, Jan is working with the Tse鈥橩鈥橶a Lithic Collection, continuing research and analysis, producing a museum exhibit and a travelling exhibit and information material for the community; producing a Lithic Cataloging guide; working with Volunteer and Work Study students on the Lithic Rehousing Project; and working with fellow RA Robyn Ewing on developing database and museum protocols.

Melissa Rollit

Melissa Rollit graduated from 大象传媒 in 2017 with a BA in Archaeology, and is pursuing her master's in museum studies. Her research interests include 19th century politics, representation of minorities in cultural institutions, and the interactions between museums and the public.

At the MAE, Melissa鈥檚 work primarily involved editing and maintaining the museum's website, which included updating old content to current formats and managing new content. She was involved in helping with the "Sailing the Red Sea" exhibit, and co-created the "Beyond the Mask" exhibit, which explored the fluidity of the West African experience. In addition to these projects, she has also worked on the Tse'K'wa project, helping to finalize the teaching kits and the corresponding website. 

Kelly Brown

Kelly Brown is a recent 大象传媒 graduate with an MA in Archaeology. Her graduate research involved developing a minimally impactful ancient DNA sampling technique for specific use on museum collection bone artifacts. 

Kelly鈥檚 work for the MAE included policy writing, exhibition design, and managing the MAE鈥檚 media outlets. Based on her MA research Kelly is drafting a 鈥淒estructive Testing Policy鈥 for the museum, meant to help facilitate responsible access to collection artifacts for research purposes. She has also contributed to ongoing content maintenance and digitization projects for the MAE鈥檚 website and media outlets. 

Elizabeth Labrecque

In June 2016, Beth graduated from 大象传媒 with a certificate in Cultural Resource Management.  Prior to coming to 大象传媒, she received her undergraduate Bachelor's degree in Classical Studies at Queen's University and a Masters degree in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool.  She has volunteered and worked in several museums in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia and participated in multiple Canadian and international archaeological field schools.  Her interests include ancient Egyptian culture, archaeology, reading and hiking.

As a Research Associate in the 大象传媒 MAE, Beth had assumed a leadership role in the lithic rehousing project, working closely with work study students and volunteers to catalogue and rehouse the extensive lithic collections at the MAE.  In addition, she  joined the team working on the Tse鈥橩鈥檞a project.  Her primary role was repurposing the content of "A Journey to a New Land", an interactive website about the Peopling of the Americas.  She also worked with fellow RAs to finalize cataloguing and museum procedures for RAs, volunteers and work study students.  

Sandi McKinney

Two degrees, Two cats, One younger twin sister.

In the past, Sandi's work consisted of providing information security consulting to various Canadian government bodies and private businesses.

Sandi was a Research Associate at the MAE working on 3D printing and scanning. Additionally. she is volunteering in the geo-archaeology lab extracting phytoliths from samples under the direction of Dr. Francesco Berna.

Laura Termes

Laura Termes completed her Master of Science in Osteoarchaeology at Bournemouth University. She interned as an archaeology collections curator at the 大象传媒 Museum of Archaeology in 2011, where she focused on Northwest coast artifacts, specifically scapula points. Selected results were published in The Midden (2013). Since the internship, she has been working as a consulting osteoarchaelogist.

Duncan MacLeod

After finishing his internship at the 大象传媒 Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in 2012, he started working at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, beginning as a collections associate and eventually becoming curator for the museum.

He is interested in archaeology and history, which he studied at UBC and Oxford. Working in museums has allowed Duncan to pursue many aspects of history and to interpret them for the public. The 大象传媒 RAship helped prepare him for work at the Vancouver Maritime Museum by giving him experience with collections management, cataloguing, creating exhibits, and project management. Duncan "really enjoyed the freedom he was given as an RA to create and pursue his own projects and to be involved with the major decisions made at the 大象传媒 museum".

For the near future, he plans to continue working at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, learning more about the maritime history of Vancouver, BC and Canada, but down the road he hopes to complete a PhD in Greek Archaeology.

Alanna McLellan

Kira Baker

Marie Gurr

Sara dos Santos