Professor Brown is an internationally recognised heritage expert whose research and professional activities bridge museum studies, heritage practice, and archaeology. At the University of St Andrews, she has led numerous international projects focusing on sustainable heritage, museum futures, and decolonising practice. Notably, she coordinated the award-winning EC Horizon 2020 EU-LAC Museums project, fostering innovative collaborations between Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and she is currently coordinating the award-winning Shared Island Stories between Scotland and the Caribbean: Past, Present Future (ERC Consolidator, converted to UKRI grant no. EP/X023036/1). She is an Honorary Board Member of the International Committee of Museology (ICOFOM).
Her leadership and scholarship have had a significant impact on shaping debates around small and community museums, postcolonial museologies, and the role of heritage in building cultural resilience. These themes are closely aligned with the McDonald Institute’s commitment to advancing critical archaeological and heritage research.
Professor Brown’s close engagement with museums and heritage professionals across Latin America and the Caribbean offers a unique opportunity to strengthen Cambridge’s networks in these regions and to foster collaborative projects that link archaeological collections with contemporary heritage practice. Her expertise would be of considerable benefit to colleagues and students working on decolonisation, repatriation, and participatory methodologies in archaeology and heritage studies.
