Nicholas Thomas, who has been Director of MAA since 2006, is an anthropologist and historian. He visited the Pacific Islands first in 1984 to research his PhD thesis on the Marquesas Islands, later worked in Fiji and New Zealand, as…

Anita Herle (BA, M.Phil, PhD, FRAI) is Senior Curator for World Anthropology, with particular responsibility for the Pacific and the Americas.  She has regional interests in Torres Strait, Vanuatu, Fiji and Canada. Her research topics include museum anthropology, the early…

Mark Elliott (MA, PhD, FRAI) is curator with responsibility for the Asian, European and African ethnography collections. He has carried out ethnographic research in India, and his research interests cover South and Southeast Asia, focusing on historical anthropology and collections…

Jody Joy (BA, MA, PhD, FSA) is curator with responsibility for British and European Archaeology. He specializes in the archaeology of northwest Europe during the first millennium BC but his research interests also include the later Bronze Age and early…

Ali Clark  (MA, PhD) is a post-doctoral research associate on the project, Pacific Presences: Oceanic Art and European Museums (2013 – 2018). Ali completed an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Studentship (2009-2013) with King’s College London and the Department of AOA at…

Erna Lilje (PhD) is a post-doctoral Research Associate on the Pacific Presences project. Erna’s interest in Pacific collections has foundations in her own heritage and in research undertaken for her PhD thesis. As part of the Pacific Presences team she…

Johanna Zetterström-Sharp (BA, MA, PhD) is a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow working on collections amassed at the end of the British Empire in Africa. Her research interests are currently focused on the way objects and their biographies can lead to…

George Emeka Agbo is a postdoctoral research associate on the AHRC-funded Museum Affordances project that retraces the itineraries of British anthropologist, N. W. Thomas who worked in Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915. George is involved in the…

Lucie is a Research Assistant on the AHRC funded Heritage Matters project. She has been interested in Pacific Island cultures since working in Vanuatu in 2006. Alongside her work with Heritage Matters, she is a PhD student in Social Anthropology…

Sarah-Jane Harknett (BSc MA) has a background in Archaeology and Museum Studies. In her current role she develops, expands and promotes the Museum’s public events, special activities, outreach facilities and evaluation. She is an assistant leader for the Young Archaeologists’…

Jenny Williams (BA) has a background in History, Theatre, Education and Community Arts. She coordinates and delivers educational sessions and events for schools, families and community groups both in the museum and off-site.

Jocelyne Dudding (MA) is currently working on the Getty Photographic Collections project. The aim of project is to research and catalogue the Museum’s core photograph collections. Her ongoing research focuses on photographs as objects of cultural property, and their positioning…

Imogen Gunn (BA, MPhil) has a background in Archaeological Heritage and Museums. Her current research interests are in the history of collecting and display, women collectors, and audience evaluation and engagement. Please contact her with enquiries regarding the archaeology collections.

Rachel Hand (BA, MA, PGCE) has a background in the material culture of the Americas, Africa and Oceania. Her current research interests include early Pacific material in the National Museum of Ireland and Irish collecting within the British Empire. Please…

Mary Hill Harris (AB, Certificat d’Archeologie, MA) has worked part-time for the museum since 1979, curating the Latin American archaeological collection. Her research speciality is the pre-Columbian ceramics of the Caribbean and she does field work in Barbados and Carriacou.…

Jonathan King is a visual anthropologist, who completed nearly 40 years at the British Museum, leaving in 2012 as Keeper of Anthropology. While he was in London the old Department of Ethnography settled into its new designation as the Department…

Zilan Wang is a research associate at MAA and executive director of the Cambridge Rivers Project (CRP). Her research interests cover East and South Asia (China and Greater Himalayan Area), focusing on collections history, material culture, visual anthropology, as well…

Katrina Dring (BSc, MA) has a background in Archaeology, Anthropology and ethnographic museum collections. She is currently working on the Museum Affordances Project which will explore the activation of museum collections and archives by using the Northcote Thomas Collection as…

Kate Phizacklea (BA, PGDip) has a background in the history of design and the visual arts as well as in venue and events management in the arts, inter faith and heritage sectors. Kate is responsible for visitor services at MAA,…