Chair

Morien Rees 

Morien Rees is a museum advisor at Varanger Museum in Norway. He studied at the Welsh School of Architecture and worked as an architect in the UK and Norway. Starting in 1994 he began working in museum and exhibition development in Norway. He chaired ICOM’s Working Group on Sustainability, recognized by ICOM as the International Committee on Museums and Sustainable Development in November 2023. 

Vice-Chairs 

Lucimara Letelier is a museum sustainability consultant, coach, and researcher. She coaches at Ki Culture and provides sustainable development consultancy and capacity building to museums through RegeneraMuseu, an organization she founded in 2017. She is the ICOM Sustain Vice-chair and has also served as a Board member for six years at ICOM Brasil and ICOM MPR. 

Certified by Gaia Education, a UNESCO partner, as a trainer and Designer in Sustainable development, she gained her knowledge from previous work at ActionAid, a human rights/climate justice NGO, and training with the Al Gore Foundation, Regenerative Economy Canvas, Regenerative Development Institute, and other programs. She holds a Master’s in Museums Studies (Green Museum Specialism) from the University of Leicester, UK, and a Master’s in Arts Administration from Boston University.  

She has 25 years of experience in senior roles at institutions, including as the Deputy Director at the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, the Deputy Director of Arts at the British Council Brasil, and other positions at the Bienal Foundation in Brazil, the Boston Children’s Museum, and the Guggenheim Museum in the US. She has worked as a Creative Green Researcher at Julies Bicycle for training programs in Climate leadership and sustainable practices in the arts & heritage sector. And today Lucimara researches and works in Regeneration & Museums. 

Dr. Siyi Wang is an Associate Professor in the Museum Studies program at Shanghai University, Vice Chair of ICOM-SUSTAIN, and a member of ICOM-DEFINE. She joined Shanghai University in December 2019 after completing her Ph.D. in Museum Studies at the School of Art and Archaeology, Zhejiang University. She was funded by the China National Scholarship to be a joint-PhD student in the Museum Studies program of George Washington University, USA. She has studied museology and taught museology for more than 15 years. Her expertise lies in Museology, Visitor Studies, Curating, Museotherapy, and Heritage Studies. Additionally, she is the secretary general of the ICOM-IMREC and has been involved in establishing a collaboration between ICOM and Shanghai University. She has also been involved in research projects involving museums and cultural heritage. She is passionate about cultural heritage safeguarding and intercultural understanding. 

 

Treasurer 

Marina von der Heyde is an assorted professional in sustainability, communications, and strategic development. With more than two decades of experience spanning the public, private, and social sectors. She is married with two children and holds an MBA Magna Cum Laude from IAE Business School and an Economics degree from Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA). 

Secretary

Dr. Debra A. Reid is curator of agriculture and the environment at The Henry Ford (THF, Dearborn, Michigan, USA). She joined ICOM in 1991. She serves on THF’s Green Museum Team and its Edible Education initiative focused on increasing public engagement with food access, security and regenerative practice. She is also an adjunct professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. There she draws on primary sources documenting sustainability and diversity (and lack thereof) in Illinois over time to teach agricultural scientists and engineers about the consequences of human actions with people and place. She serves on the Climate & Sustainability committee of the American Association for State and Local History, was a long-time board member of the International Association of Agricultural Museums, is a fellow of the Agricultural History Society, and remains an active past-president of the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums. Her recent publications include Interpretating Agriculture at Museums and Historic Sites (2017), Interpreting the Environment at Museums and Historic Sites with David Vail (2019), and several essays in Interpreting Science at Museums and Historic Sites co-edited with Vail and Karen-Beth Scholthof (2023).

BOARD MEMBERS 

Clémence Aycard is an ecocritical art historian and curator. After following a curriculum in art history and heritage in France (2013-2018), she moved to Scotland, where she has since been working and growing in the museum field. She first joined Glasgow Museums as Curatorial Volunteer, then Front of House and Curatorial Assistant. She’s now employed as Curator of Art for Paisley Museum. Since 2020, she’s been focusing her energy and interests on the relationship between museums and the environmental crisis. As a curator, she’s interested in using collections to discuss environmental history and concerns. Among other research, she has edited the online tour Scenes from Our Climate (Smartify) for Glasgow Museums, and focused her Museums & Galleries studies masters’ dissertation on fine art museums and climate engagement (Picturing Climate: Fine Art collections and the climate crisis, University of St Andrews, 2022). Additionally, she’s Carbon Literate, and has completed several other climate trainings, including Kate Gaertner’s Cultivate Course, the Open University microcredential ‘Changing Your Organization for Sustainability’, and One Resilient Earth’ ‘Becoming a Climate Artivist’ program. She is also a trained facilitator of discussions around eco-feelings, thanks to her engagement with Force of Nature. Aside from being a Board member of SUSTAIN, she is also a Young Associate with Climate Museum UK and a supporter of Culture Declares. She is now exploring ideas for pursuing her career in the environmental interpretation field, and looks forward to supporting museums in their sustainable development and environmental engagement endeavours. 

Susan Edwards served as Executive Director and CEO of the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee 2004-2022. During her tenure, the Frist was awarded accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums and presented over two hundred critically acclaimed and popular loan exhibitions notably Picasso.Figures from Musée Picasso and The Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces form the Musée d’Orsay as well as internally organized projects William Eggleston: Anointing the Overlooked; Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video; and Sanctity Pictured: The Art of Dominican and Franciscan Orders in Renaissance Italy. Edwards earned BA and MA degrees at the University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. from the City University of New York Graduate Center. She is an acknowledged expert in American art and photography, has organized exhibitions, published and lectured nationally and internationally. She has taught at New York University, Queens College/CUNY, School of Visual Arts, New York, and Vanderbilt University. She is currently a graduate student in the Creative Writing program at Johns Hopkins University. Edwards was appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Artes and des Lettres by the French Government in 2011. She was a Founding Fellow at the Liguria Study Center for the Arts & Humanities, Genoa, Italy. She is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors American Alliance of Museums, International Council of Museums (ICOM), and the College Art Association. She is board member of The Porch, Museum of Medicine and Biomendical Discovery, and the Sustain Committee of ICOM and serves on numerous advisory boards.   

 

Mårten Janson is Exhibition producer at the National Museums of World Culture in Sweden. 

Julia Jedelhauser is a distinguished architect with over 20 years of membership in ICOM Germany, committed to sustainable development within building, urban development, and museums. Julia holds a degree in Architecture and was a recipient of a DAAD scholarship in New Zealand, emphasizing her academic excellence. Her professional journey is marked by significant roles as an independent consultant and senior lecturer, where she focuses on sustainable, resource-saving practices and the circular economy in the building industry. Julia’s active participation in the Bavarian Architecture Association, her founding membership in the ÖGNI (Austrian Sustainability Building Council), and involvement with architects4future showcase her dedication to promoting sustainable building practices. As the deputy head of the Architectural Museum in Augsburg, Julia blends her architectural expertise with a passion for museums, excelling in areas of sustainable building, resource conservation, and public real estate management. Her contributions to sustainable buildings and urban planning on an international scale, coupled with her extensive experience in lecturing and consulting, highlight her commitment to advancing sustainable practices in museums and urban development. 

Jamie Larkin is Assistant Professor of Culture, Media and Creative Industries at the University of Warwick, in the UK. His research examines the ways in which museums can become more sustainable, from their physical operations (such as greening the museum shop) to how they communicate issues surrounding the global planetary emergency. In particular, he is interested in ways that object-based storytelling can help connect people to the natural spaces around them. He has previously held positions at Chapman University and was part of the Mapping Museums research team at Birkbeck, University of London. He is currently co-editor of the journal Museums and Social Issues. 

Mohamadou Moustapha DIEYE graduated from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, in history and cultural engineering. He is a heritage manager at the Théodore Monod Museum of African Art IFAN-CAD. Currently, he specializes in his doctoral research on the evolution of post-colonial museology in Africa. Member of the previous board of ICOM-Senegal, Mr. Dièye has participated in scientific and cultural research programs in Switzerland, Italy, Nigeria and France during his professional career. 

María Auxiliadora (Dora) Llamas Márquez, a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) since 2008, in February 2023 she was elected President of the ICOM National Committee in Spain (2023-2025). She is a graduate in Art History from the University of Granada, Diploma of Advanced Studies in Art History and Master in Museology from the University of Granada and holds a Master in Didactic and Interactive Museography from the University of Barcelona. Since 2005 she has been a public employee, Museum Curator. She has worked in the Museum of Málaga, in the Museum of Cádiz and in the Central Services of the Ministry of Culture of the Government of Andalusia in Seville where she has been Head of Museum Service. It develops its activity both in the field of collections, their conservation and dissemination, as well as in the management of museum institutions (museums and cultural complexes) and their strategic planning, participating in the drafting of regional regulatory projects. She has actively collaborated in the commissioning and opening of museum headquarters in Jaén, Granada and Málaga. She has participated in various university master’s degrees, cycles, conferences, meetings and conference cycles as a speaker on topics related to the management and strategic planning of museum institutions, preventive conservation of collections, collection documentary management systems, feminism, perspective gender and role of women in museums, accessibility in historical heritage, sustainability and sustainable development in museums. 

María Auxiliadora (Dora) Llamas Márquez Miembro del Consejo Internacional de Museos (ICOM) desde 2008, en febrero de 2023 fue elegida Presidenta del Comité Nacional de ICOM en España (2023-2025). Licenciada en Historia del Arte por la Universidad de Granada, Diploma de Estudios Avanzados en Historia del Arte y Máster en Museología por la Universidad de Granada. Máster en Museografía Didáctica e Interactiva por la Universidad de Barcelona. Desde 2005 es empleada pública, Conservadora de Museos. Ha trabajado en el Museo de Málaga, en el Museo de Cádiz y en los Servicios Centrales de la Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía en Sevilla donde ha sido Jefa de Servicio de Museos. Desarrolla su actividad tanto en el ámbito de las colecciones, su conservación y difusión, como en el de la gestión de las instituciones museísticas (museos y conjuntos culturales) y su planificación estratégica, participando en la redacción de proyectos normativos de ámbito regional. Ha colaborado activamente en la puesta en funcionamiento y apertura de sedes de museos, en Jaén, Granada y Málaga. Ha participado en diversos másteres universitarios, ciclos, jornadas, encuentros y ciclos de conferencias como ponente de temas relacionados con la gestión y planificación estratégica de las instituciones museísticas, la conservación preventiva de las colecciones, los sistemas de gestión documental de colecciones, feminismo y el papel de la mujer en los museos, la accesibilidad en el patrimonio histórico, la sostenibilidad y el desarrollo sostenible en los museos. 

 

Ben Melham has spent his career operating, maintaining and developing internationally significant institutions in the UK and around the World and is focussed on advancing sustainability within the global museum sector. Having studied Environmental Science, Ben has continued to work to implement sustainable solutions in practicable ways. Ben works with many significant cultural sector institutions, including the Imperial War Museums, V&A, Natural History Museum, and British Museum. His broad experience provides him with unique insights into the sector’s challenges and opportunities, particularly in translating sustainability aspirations into impactful outcomes. 

Ben’s broader personal commitment to fostering sustainability collaboration across the sector is evident in his active participation in key networks and committees. In addition to being a board member for SUSTAIN he chairs the Cultural Sector Sustainability Hub and is also member of the working group focussed on representing the cultural sector in the development of a Net Zero Carbon Building Standard for the UK. Ben has also made significant contributions to the International Museum Construction Congress, where he is a member of the Steering Committee and chaired the congress from 2019 to 2021. 

Dr Jenny Newell is the Curator for Climate Change at the Australian Museum, Sydney. She runs the AM’s Climate Solutions Centre, working to advance understanding and engagement in climate solutions through exhibitions, events, publications and conversations. 

With a background in environmental history and a focus on the Pacific and Australia, Jenny has worked with communities and collections at the British Museum; National Museum of Australia; American Museum of Natural History and the Australian Museum to amplify voices on climate change for broad audiences. 

Jenny is a board member of ICOM-SUSTAIN, the Sydney Environment Institute and a co-convenor of Sydney Climate Institutions for Climate Action and the Museums & Climate Change Network. Recent exhibitions include Spark: Australian innovations tackling climate change (2021) and Future Now (2022-), a diorama-based touring exhibition. Her publications include Trading Nature (2010) and edited volumes Curating the Future: Museums, Communities & Climate Change (2016) and Living with the Anthropocene (2020).  

Photo: Jenny Newell, Curator for Climate Change, Australian Museum. Photo: Anna Kučera. 

Dr. Michela Rota, architect, holds a PhD in Cultural Heritage focused on the science of sustainability and museums. Between 2008 and 2017, she worked as a research fellow at the Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino, Italy. She undertakes research, museology and architectural projects with sustainability at the core.  Her book Musei per la Sostenibilità integrata (2nd ed. Editrice Bibliografica, 2022; EN: Museums for the Integrated Sustainability) advocates for green museum management that proposes a range of approaches aimed at sustainability and that communicate with audience in a dialogue about the importance and the urgency of taking action on the topic. 

 

Johanna Sentef is an anthropologist with a background in interdisciplinary science and technology studies (MA, Goethe University Frankfurt) and works at the intersection of art and science. From 2021 to 2023 she contributed to the exhibition program at Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden as curatorial assistant and co-curator. Her focus encompasses digital curation and an approach to sustainability through the concept of naturecultures. As a member of the ICOM Young Professionals network in Germany, she is currently investigating the awareness for sustainable banking in and around museums together with the team of the sustainability working group within the YP network. In her practice, she is committed to making visible under-researched instruments and strategies for sustainable transformation processes in and through museums. 

Hélène Vassal is Chief Curator specialised in Heritage Conservation and Director of Collections Support at the Musée du Louvre since 2023. She directed the publication of the first French-language work on museum registration and has participated in the creation and renovation of many museums and storage facilities, including the Musée du Quai Branly, the Centre Pompidou, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Musée Guimet and the Centre National des Arts Plastiques. Her teaching and involvement with ICOM sparked her focus on the intersection of heritage and sustainable development and inspired her to publish and develop training programmes on sustainable collections management.