Presenter Bios and Abstracts
Thursday, May 16, 2024
What's Next? An Introductory Workshop on Disaster Recovery for Archival Materials
Instructor: Julia Landry, Conservator
Julia Landry was accredited in 2001 as a conservator with a specialization in archival materials. After eight years in Special Collections at Dalhousie University Library, she obtained Masters in Conservation from Camberwell College of Art in London, England, specializing in the conservation of library and archival material. Following graduation, Julia interned for three months in the India Office’s conservation studio, a division of the British Library’s conservation department. She returned to Canada in 1994 and worked on contract for the Council of Nova Scotia Archives as their itinerant conservator. Since 1997, she's been in private practice working on a variety of material from both private and institutional clients.
Friday, May 17, 2024
Weathering the Storms, Part I
Fires: Andrea Davis, Executive Director, Black Loyalist Heritage Centre
Andrea Davis is a community builder, a natural leader, a strong communicator and powerful champion for those who need to have their voices heard. She is a Nova Scotian born of Black Loyalist descent, with ancestral ties and relationships within the communities of Birchtown, Shelburne and Black communities throughout Nova Scotia.
Andrea has developed, implemented, and facilitated large-scale programs dedicated to supporting Equity, Inclusion, Diversity and Human Rights in the workplace. Andrea’s post-secondary education includes a Certification in Investigation Sciences and Police Studies; Certification on Adjudication for Administrative Agencies, Boards and Tribunals, and a Recognition of Achievement in Excellence in Educating Adults. She is working toward her Certification in Adult Education.
Flash Floods: Joanne Boudreau, President, Fultz House Corner Restoration Society
Joanne Boudreau is president of Fultz Corner Restoration Society, a non-profit society that owns and manages Fultz House Museum, the Sackville Heritage Archives are part of Fultz House Museum. Joanne strives to engage the community and include equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in all work at Fultz House Museum. Joanne is treasurer on the Association of Nova Scotia Museum’s board. Joanne has a passion for genealogy, a hobby after retirement. Joanne worked for 30 years in healthcare administration, system implementation, project management, and management. Policy and procedure writing was a very transferrable skill from healthcare to museum and archives. Joanne has four grandchildren she has the pleasure of taking care of when their parents are at work and school.
The Future: Anna Jamieson, CLIMAtlantic
Anna grew up in Nova Scotia and holds an MA in Environmental Practice and a Graduate Certificate in the Science and Policy of Climate Change from Royal Roads University. She also holds a BSc Honours in Environmental Science, with minors in Political Science and Biology from Mount Allison University. She has volunteered with various environmental and sustainable development non-profits and has worked in small business and international sustainable development contexts. She is passionate about holistic sustainability and capacity building – understanding and discovering the linkages between caring for the earth, caring for communities and caring for yourself.
Preventative Measures
Collections Protection: Thea Wilson Hammond, Executive Director, Memory Lane Heritage Village & Eastern Shore Archives
Thea Wilson-Hammond grew up in Clam Harbour, Nova Scotia. As a child of back-to-the-landers she had an early upbringing in useful skills like slaughtering pigs, chopping firewood and growing vegetables. All good skills that serve her well in her present job. Whilst living away from the Eastern Shore, she picked up a degree in Religious Studies and Irish from Saint Mary’s University, spent six years in Killarnery, Ireland as an equestrian tour guide, and eventually returned to Nova Scotia to establish her own business, The Wordsmith Works, where she handled numerous environmental education and museum research / exhibit writing contracts. In 2000, Thea and her husband moved back to Clam Harbour to raise their two daughters. In 2005, Thea became the Executive Director of the Lake Charlotte Area Heritage Society, which owns and operates Memory Lane Heritage Village. Thea completed the CNSA’s Archival Certificate program and assisted in the creation of the Eastern Shore Archives, a primarily volunteer-staffed Institutional Archives responsible for the records of more than 70 communities between Lawrencetown and Ecum Secum.
Digital Protection: Heather Walker, Collections Coordinator, Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
Heather Walker is the Collections Coordinator at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, and previously the Digital Preservation Assistant at the museum. She has a Master of Information degree from the University of Toronto, with a focus on archives, records management and digital preservation. She has a background in media archiving, and production coordination for film and television. She is a white, cis-gender settler, and thankful to live and work in Kjipuktuk.
Heritage Sites: Emma Lang, Executive Director, Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia
Emma Lang is the Executive Director of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia. She holds an MA in Museum Studies from George Washington University in Washington DC and an MA in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her career has taken her across the United States and Atlantic Canada working for museums and heritage organizations as a curator, interpretive developer and heritage advocate. Emma’s work has largely focused on sharing lesser known stories of working people and immigrants and she has prioritized finding creative ways of making heritage engaging and accessible for all.
Resilient Communities: Mimi O’Handley, Wetlands and Water Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre
Mimi O’Handley (she/her) works at the Ecology Action Centre as the Wetlands and Water Coordinator, where she acts as an environmental watchdog by engaging in research, community outreach and advocacy related to the protection of freshwater and wetlands in Nova Scotia and across Canada. This includes involvement in campaigns regarding freshwater and wetlands policy, protected areas, nature-based climate solutions, and climate change adaptation approaches.
Weathering the Storms, Part II
Irene Kerr, Director/Curator, Museum of the Highwood, High River, Alberta
In 2011, Irene, Curator of the Museum of the Highwood in High River, Alberta, experienced a fire in the museum, which is a heritage building, built in 1911. It sustained severe water damage from the fire hoses being placed through the roof. Two years later, in 2013, while still recovering from the impacts of the fire, the Bow River floods occurred. Irene had the misfortune of experiencing a massive flood in the building, except this time, the small town was using all of its resources trying to mitigate the damage. Through it all, Irene has learned first-hand about the challenges that come with dealing with insurance companies, attempting to salvage and catalog what is left behind, as well as implementing a disaster plan when you are literally up to your knees – or your ceiling – in water.
What Else Could Go Wrong?
Pests: Jill Baron, Conservator, Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute
Jill Baron is the Conservator at the Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute on the Ouje-Bougoumou First Nation in Northern Quebec. She is a graduate of the Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management program at Fleming College and holds a Master of Arts in the Principles of Conservation from the University College London. Previously, Jill worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon, managing the inventory and move of their small artifacts and documents collection.
Mould: Christine Hines, Curator, Shearwater Aviation Museum
Christine Hines is currently the Director/Curator at the Shearwater Aviation Museum (and archives!) – a post she’s held for over 20 years. Originally from Saint John, NB, Christine began her career in museums in the late 1980’s while a student, first working as a curatorial assistant at the New Brunswick Museum but then continuing in the museum field at various positions while in school. She caught the bug enough to divert her training in medieval history into museology, and hasn’t looked back. Christine has been working with military museum collections for about 28 years, in Curatorial and Collections departments. After several moves from NB to NS to ON, she moved back to Nova Scotia in 2001 with her husband, Brent, recently retired from the RCN, and is the proud Mom to her son Garrett, who’s a sophomore at Dalhousie University.