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Summary

Associate Dean Academic within Faculty of Creative & Cultural Industries (CCI) and Associate Professor in Digital Heritage. 

My research examines how digital cultural heritage infrastructure is shaped, experienced and sustained through human meaning-making, participation and public value. Situated at the intersection of Digital Humanities, museum studies and cultural policy, I investigate how digital systems within museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations mediate relationships between collections, institutions and audiences.

While digital transformation in the cultural heritage sector is often framed as a technical or operational challenge, my work reframes it as a question of cultural infrastructure and public value. I specialise in the human experience of digital cultural heritage; exploring how people discover, interpret and value online collections, in gallery digital experiences and hybrid museum environments. Through qualitative and user-centred methodologies, I examine how digital infrastructures become meaningful, trusted and legitimate in public contexts.

My research spans engagement with national collections infrastructure, the valuation of digital cultural heritage capital, and critical explorations of emerging museum futures in digital, physical and hybrid contexts. Across these strands, I develop a people-centred understanding of digital innovation that foregrounds interpretation, inclusion and the production of cultural value. I argue that sustainable digital transformation in cultural heritage depends not only on technological capability, but through the ways digital infrastructures are embedded within institutional cultures, public meaning-making and civic life.

This agenda contributes to shaping more inclusive, reflexive and socially responsive museum futures, positioning digital cultural heritage as both technical and civic infrastructure.

Areas of interest for supervision

I am interested in hearing from students wishing to undertake doctoral research in any area related to digital cultural heritage including digital museums, digital engagement, user experience, user studies, and the general digital humanities, including social media, citizen science/citizen history, creative online platforms, crowdsourcing, and online public engagement. I am happy to discuss proposals with interested potential PhD students. 

Biography

I joined the ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ in February 2017 and currently fulfil the role of Associate Dean Academic for the Faculty of Creative & Cultural Industries (CCI) responsible for the strategic leadership of curriculum, quality assurance and enhancements in the faculty. I am also a principal lecturer in user experience.

My main research focuses on digital innovation and impact of engagement and user experience in a museum context. My current research interests include the nature of participation and engagement possibilities provided by digital technology,  digital heritage, museum innovation, creativity and creative practice, and knowledge exchange between academic and cultural heritage institutions.

I completed my PhD (2014) in Digital Humanities at the Centre for Digital Humanities and Department of Information Studies, UCL, where my research focused on exploring the implications of digital innovation projects in museums and their bearing on visitor engagement and institutional change.

Please note that I was on maternity and shared parental leave from March 2019 - November 2019.

Research interests

• Digital Cultural Heritage Infrastructure and Museum Innovation
• Human Experience, Interpretation and Value in Digital Heritage
• Digital Museum Ecologies and Immersive and Participatory Design
• Museum–University Knowledge Exchange and Civic Partnerships