Meanwhile... at the Museum

Dr. Glenn Storrs, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Associate Vice President of Science and Research

Almost 30 years ago, Dr. Glenn Storrs arrived in Cincinnati as Museum Center's new Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. At the time, the vertebrate paleontology collection was mostly focused on ice age animals. Which are great! But Glenn had a vision for a dinosaur collection and exhibit. Over the years, through active digs and partnerships with other institutions, Glenn and his fellow collections staff and volunteers built up an incredible collection of dinosaur fossils. Some the biggest and rarest are on display now in our Dinosaur Hall! In this episode, we'll find out how Glenn went from dinosaur kid to dinosaur adult, talk about how he brought his vision for a dinosaur exhibit to fruition, and ask all the questions we've always wanted to ask a paleontologist.

Amy Vlastelica, Director of Exhibition Design

After bouncing from coast to coast and even a few stints in Hong Kong, Amy Vlastelica has landed at Cincinnati Museum Center as our Director of Exhibition Design. So what does an exhibition designer do? We'll dig into that, Amy's career in museums and design firms, and her efforts to create the first children's museum in Hong Kong! 

James Burns, Director of OMNIMAX Operations

If you've seen an OMNIMAX film at CMC in the past 26 years, James Burns has likely been part of that experience, whether he was greeting you as you came in, operating the film projector, introducing the movie or all of the above. In this episode, we'll dig into James' journey from his small town theater to CMC's OMNIMAX, our theater's switch to a digital projector in 2018 and his many side projects, which include a music career and a screen printing business. 

Katie Hunt, Paleo Lab Manager for Elevation Science at CMC

If you've been to Cincinnati Museum Center's Dinosaur Hall and Ancient Worlds Hiding in Plain Sight gallery, you probably notice our Paleo Lab. And if you've been here recently, you saw Katie Hunt hard at work preparing fossils! Katie works in our lab whenever the museum is open as part of a partnership we have with Elevation Science Institute, a non-profit organization that has a field program where you can get your hands (and everything else) dirty digging up dinosaurs! We'll dig into Katie's background, her experiences in the field, and find out what it's like to prepare dinosaur fossils while people watch through the window. 
 
Check out Katie's Instagram, @KateWhoExcavates to see her updates from the field!

Celebrating the First Year of Meanwhile... at the Museum

Today we're shaking up our usual format as Cody and Mitch discuss some of their favorite moments from the first twenty-five episodes and first year of Meanwhile... at the Museum. We'll talk about Shakespeare, the Hamburglar, a few varieties of historic toilets and a whole lot more. Take a listen, and let us know some of your favorite moments by messaging us at meanwhile@cincymuseum.org! 

Tim McQuillan, Senior Director of Public Safety and Security

Tim McQuillan has had a lot of jobs: roller coaster ride operator, airport bus driver, K-9 security officer and more. But today he's our Senior Director of Public Safety and Security here at Cincinnati Museum Center. We're chatting with Tim to get the inside scoop on what he does here, exploring a 500,000 square foot National Historic Landmark, and his long history of interesting jobs.

Katherine Gould, Curator of History Objects and Fine Art

Though collecting objects is just one part of what a museum does, it is a very important one. But why is it important to collect objects like a safe, bed or small piece of rope? Today we're digging into that question with Katherine Gould, our Curator of History Objects and Fine Art. We'll also learn about Katherine's path to becoming our curator, and about some of her favorite objects in the collection, like a fallout shelter toilet. 

Graham Turner, Assistant Manager of Museum Engagement

15 years ago, a child wandered into CMC and never left. Now that child is an adult, and that adult is Graham Turner, an Assistant Manager of Museum Engagement. Join us as we talk to Graham about our room full of things in jars, his time in CMC's Youth Programs, that time he ran away to the circus at age 6, and just how passionate Graham is about Cincinnati Museum Center.

Charisse Lawrence, Director of Guest Experience

A family walks into Union Terminal for the first time, overwhelmed by not just by the sheer scale of the Rotunda, but by the plethora of options before them. History museum, science museum, children’s museum, OMNIMAX Theater, featured exhibitions, programs, Membership, our friends in the Holocaust & Humanity Center?! Luckily, a friendly face is waiting to help these baby birds out of the nest: Charisse Lawrence. In a way, without Charisse you wouldn't be listening to this podcast, since she trained Cody at the box office 13 years ago! Join us as we talk to Charisse about reading and guiding museum-goers, favorite family meals, and her go-to karaoke song.

Cody Hefner, Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Today we are flipping the script, as we welcome CMC President & CEO Elizabeth Pierce back to the pod as host instead of guest. We've learned a lot about Cody over the previous 20 episodes, but now we're ready to turn things around and dig into his story. We'll talk about his 13 years with CMC, his path to being a Marketing VP with a graduate degree in history, and oh so many shenanigans. 
 
And as requested, here's a playlist of just a few of Cody's finest moments. 
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKg_QLggSmtjJTGgI4p8s_I26FAVRQH_l&si=cXMwz4-f5ilnntrF