Registrar, Air Force Museum of New Zealand

I completed my Master of Museum and Heritage Studies in March 2008. I enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington in 2006 because the structure of the Museum Studies programme and its Wellington location was appealing. The course was undoubtedly rewarding and I feel my career prospects are all the richer for the combination of theoretical knowledge and practical experience provided, and for professional contacts I have made.

As well as gaining a sound understanding of museum history and theory, I was able to explore a dissertation topic which I found really interesting: the display of Natural History at Canterbury and New Zealand's national museum, using the moa as a case study. I also completed varied practical placements, ranging from collections management based projects at Canterbury Museum (working with archives, and natural history and ethnological objects) and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu (producing an inventory of the artist Olivia Spencer Bower's archive), and a heritage research placement at the Central Office of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (writing a registration report for the Upper Karori Dam). I also completed the 519 Project paper, where I wrote an entry on "Horses" for the Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage's online encyclopedia, Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

While I was studying I was lucky enough to be employed part-time as a researcher for heritage consultants and as an Archives Assistant at Te Papa (including full time over a summer).

After I completed the course, I worked as a heritage researcher for the Wellington City Council. I then went on to fixed-term positions at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand working on projects involving textile and memorabilia collections, then spent six months at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery Niho O te Taniwha working with the Southland Hospital collection.

I was then lucky enough to come back to the Air Force Museum, this time as the permanent Collections Technician, a role which involved basic registration tasks and the day-to-day care of technical, textile and memorabilia collections. I was promoted to Registrar, in 2015, at the Air Force Museum, a role which hadn't existed for several years. I am responsible for all registration activities such as the donor liaison and processing of donations, the management of the Vernon collections management system, loans, freight movements, pest management, condition reporting and other exhibitions support."