I have spent my career in both science centres and natural history museums, in which I had various responsibilities, from exhibitions to research to conservation to education. My focus moved from physics and basic science to nature and related societal issues. Making our technologies and our societies able to sustainably use the natural resources is the major challenge we are all facing now. I engaged firmly the RBINS to contribute, through research, policy advice and citizens’ engagement. Within Ecsite I strongly advocate for science centres and natural history museums to join their forces and creativity to address it.
I have spent my whole career working on quality science education, from being a STEM teacher trainer and author of a study book for student teachers, a presenter of science experiments in a television show, to creating memorable experiential learning experiences in a science museum. As the Deputy Director of NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam, I was concerned with transforming the museum in a 21st century context, introducing a new STEM curriculum in the Netherlands and really involving citizens in scientific and technological developments. Since 1 April 2018, I am the Director of Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden, the Dutch National Museum of the History of Science and Medicine. It tells the stories of the major discoveries in the history of science in the Netherlands, the scientists behind them, and the impact of their discoveries on our lives today. I was elected on the Ecsite Board in June 2019 for a two-year Trustee’s mandate.
I am head of Curatorial Deparment AII - Technology at the Deutsches Museum. Holding a PhD in physics, I first joined the museum as a curator of physical sciences. Since 2013, I also serve as the officer for national and international museum cooperation at the Deutsches Museum.
I am an educated teacher and have more than 18 years of experience as a science center leader - since 1 July 2014 as the CEO of Experimentarium. I first joined Experimentarium in January 2003 when I was asked to establish its Department of Science Communication. Since then I have been through lots of challenges - huge and small - including the construction of a new science centre, going from small to bigger, reorganizing the staff, surviving crucial economic situations and fighting to keep a high level of science communication.
Before Experimentarium I led the school departments of Denmark's largest consumer organisation Coop Denmark and of the Danish Society for the Conservation of Nature – Denmark's largest NGO. I love sharing my experience with people and I love learning from others. I am an alumni of the Noyce Leadership Fellows and have served as the co-chair of the CPPC (ASTC planning committee). I served a first mandate on the Board of Ecsite in 2014-2016, a second one in 2017-2019 and was re-elected for another two-year term in June 2019. I am currently serving as the treasurer of Ecsite and involved in its Executive committee.
I am Development Division Director. I graduated from Inter-Faculty Studies in Environmental Protection at the Warsaw University, and worked in educational and fundraising NGOs as the Project Coordinator and Director of Development. I joined the team at the Copernicus Science Centre prior to its opening and have collaborated with all the CSC sponsors in joint events and activities ever since. My earlier professional experience in the field of fundraising resulted in setting up the Copernicus Club membership programme for the Centre’s regular visitors. I am a member of the Programme Committee of the European network of science centres and museums (Ecsite) annual conference (since 2013).
I am Reader in Science Education at King’s College London. My research interests include the pedagogical practices of museum educators, the practice of environmental education, and equity and social justice in both school and out-of-school settings. I have also worked in partnership with museums across the UK and Europe conducting evaluation studies, and facilitating collaborative learning projects between individual museums, and between museums and schools.
I have been CEO and a first employee of Techmania Science Center since 2006, Pilsen, Czech Republic. I have been a Chairman of the board of the Czech Association of Science Centers since its beginning in 2014. I have earned my master’s in education and I am focused on learning especially the way students can get skills needed in the 21st century through the cooperation of formal and informal Education.
Director of Education and of the Centre of Research in Informal Learning
Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia 'Leonardo da Vinci'
I am Director of Education & Centre for Research in Informal Education (CREI) at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci of Milano. I also teach “Research Methods in Education” at the Department of Education, Catholic University of Milan. I hold a BA in Pedagogy from the University of Crete (Greece), a Master’s degree in Arts Education and a Phd in Museum Education, both from the University of Sussex (UK). My main research interests focus on informal (science) learning methodologies and on professional development of educators in museums.
As Senior Advisor Development & Experience Design at the Museon-Omniversum (The Hague) I am involved in a wide range of policy areas and play an active part in formulating the museum concept and planning for the future. The Museon is a partner in various international projects and I am responsible for the management of these projects. I was a member of the programme committee of the Ecsite Annual Conference between 2009 and 2017. I was also an elected member of the board of the VSC (the association of science museums and science centers in the Netherlands and Flanders) and chair of the editorial committee of Spokes, the monthly online magazine of Ecsite.
I am the Executive Director of Ecsite. Under my leadership, the Ecsite Conference has grown to become the largest science engagement event in Europe and Ecsite has firmly established itself as a trend setting platform and as a key stakeholder on the European stage. Before I joined Ecsite in 2006, I was working for the Office de Coopération et d’Information Muséographiques (OCIM, France) as a Training coordinator. From 1992 to 1994, I was Professional development coordinator and then Executive director of the Société des Musées Québécois. I have also worked in architecture and art museums in Canada and managed cultural events such as jazz festivals. I hold an MBA in cultural management from HEC Montréal (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales).