Harold Boeschenstein Director of Library Services at the American Museum of Natural History
Tom Baione
Tom Baione is the Harold Boeschenstein Director of Library Services at the American Museum of Natural History. Tom came to the Museum’s Library in 1995 as the Special Collections Librarian working with the Library’s extensive non-print collections, including Photography, Film, Archive, Manuscripts, Art and Museum Memorabilia, as well as the print collection, which dates to the 15th century. Tom is passionate about the 150 year history of the Museum that the Library’s varied collections illustrates. His edited volume of essays on the Rare Book Collections, Natural Histories: Extraordinary Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library grew into a three book series that inspired two temporary exhibits at the Museum he curated and co-curated.
Assistant Curator at the William Benton Museum of Art
Amanda A. Douberley
Amanda A. Douberley is a historian of twentieth-century American sculpture and public art. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in Art History, as well as English Language and Literature, from the University of Virginia. Her research explores the intersection of mid-twentieth-century American sculpture, architecture, design, and urban planning. She is currently revising her dissertation, "The Corporate Model: Sculpture, Architecture, and the American City, 1946-1975," for publication. In it she situates post-war American sculpture in the context of public relations practices and urban renewal.
Amanda writes, “The William Benton Museum of Art is a proud partner with UCHI on Seeing Truth: Art, Science, and Making Knowledge (1750-2023). This initiative poses important and timely questions that are central to the museum’s mission of creating and expanding knowledge…. [we] look forward to bringing together cross-disciplinary perspectives and inspiring new approaches to object-based learning.”
Archivist at the Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Library
Kristin Eshelman
Kristin Eshelman is Archivist for Multimedia Collections and the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection at Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut. She has over 20 years of experience managing audiovisual materials in archives and currently includes artists’ books and illustration in her collection responsibilities. Kristin participates in Connecticut’s Traveling Archivist Program supporting museums, historical societies and public libraries through training in archival best practices. Kristin has held positions at the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona and the Kansas Collection and University Archives, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas. She has a BA in Humanities from Washington College (BA) and an MLS from the University of Arizona.
Special Collections Archivist at the American Museum of Natural History
Rebecca Morgan
Rebecca Morgan is the Special Collections Archivist at the American Museum of Natural History. For over a decade she has been leading the Museum’s program to survey, catalog, and describe its extensive expeditionary archives. These efforts led her to work on cross-institutional initiatives such as the BHL Field Notes Project and the Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) project. Becca is passionate about improving the accessibility of museum archives for researchers and has written about the challenges of managing "boundary materials," such as field books, and championing their cross-discipline value.
Special Collections Librarian at the American Museum of Natural History
Gregory Raml
Gregory Raml is the Special Collections Librarian at the American Museum of Natural History Research Library focusing on archival research and description. His work interests include film preservation and enhancing access to the Museum's unique collection of field footage and educational films. He is currently managing a three-year, grant-funded project to process the Museum's historical central administrative archives. Gregory received an MLIS in Archives and Preservation from Queens College, CUNY and his BA in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University.
Senior Research Services Librarian at the American Museum of Natural History
Mai Reitmeyer
Mai Reitmeyer is the Senior Research Services Librarian at the American Museum of Natural History
Research Library, where she oversees reference and access to print and electronic published materials in
the Library. This includes the extensive Rare Book Collection, which is comprised of many richly
illustrated and uniquely bound volumes relevant to natural history. Mai is a contributing author
to several articles about these collections and a frequent collaborator with authors writing on natural
history collections at the Museum. These include an essay in an edited volume based on the rare book
collection, Natural Histories: Extraordinary Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural
History Library and a chapter in a forthcoming Geological Society of America book chapter on women
paleontological artists at the Museum.
Exhibition Specialist at the American Museum of Natural History
Joel Sweimler
Joel Sweimler started working in the Library at the American Museum of Natural History in 1990 under a NEA Grant to identify and catalog the Museum's extensive non-indigenous art collection. He then oversaw the move of the Library into a new facility and eventually became the Manager of Special Collections. In 1997 he moved to the Exhibition Department as an Exhibition Developer. Joel helped to plan, install, and travel over 100 temporary exhibitions as well as to help manage the installation of the new Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals and the Northwest Coast Hall. He retired from the Exhibition Department in 2021 as Senior Exhibition Developer Emeritus and is excited to be back in the Library researching its diverse collections.
Director of Mark Twain Center for Transatlantic Relations Heidelberg
Uwe Wenzel
Since 2018, Dr. Uwe Wenzel has overseen the process of setting up the newly established Mark Twain Center for Transatlantic Relations (MTC) in Heidelberg, Germany. His role includes developing and leading research and exhibition projects that focus on the special relationship between the city of Heidelberg and the USA. He is also in charge of organizing an educational and cultural program on topical aspects of transatlantic relations.
Dr. Wenzel earned his Ph.D. from the University of Frankfurt/Main with a thesis on interest group coalitions in the USA, and he has taught in political science and American studies programs at Chemnitz University and the University of Freiburg. His published academic work covers topics including political representation of ethnic minorities, racism and ethnicity, and migration policy.
Between 2001 and 2008, Dr. Wenzel worked as a lobbyist for the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, the largest organization for these minority groups in Germany, representing its interests to international human rights organizations. Following this, he organized educational programs for young people for the State of Baden-Württemberg. Since 2015, he has developed and delivered projects for a number of federal and state ministries to support migrants in obtaining vocational and academic qualifications. In addition to his work as Director of the MTC, he lectures in political science at Heidelberg University and the University of Kaiserslautern.