Scientific Symposium Co-Chairs

Dr Steve Brown is a Research Associate on the ‘Everyday Heritage’ project at the University of Canberra and a Special Adviser with GML Heritage. I am an Honorary Member of the ICOMOS-IFLA ISC on Cultural Landscapes and a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. I have qualifications and publish in the fields of heritage studies and archaeology. I am excited to be working with the GA2023 team and GA2023 Scientific Symposium participants to create an intellectually and social stimulating, diverse, and memorable event. I live on a 60-hectare rural property that is managed for conservation and love.

Ona Vileikis, PhD from KU Leuven, architect and cultural heritage specialist. I am researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL). I also collaborate worldwide with local professionals and government officials, UNESCO, ICCROM, ICESCO, WMF, IICAS, ICOMOS and the private sector, in the fields of capacity building and consulting regarding the World Heritage Convention, digital heritage documentation, conservation and monitoring practices, and heritage impact assessments. I have been serving as advisor to the UNESCO Silk Roads World Heritage nomination for more than a decade. I am also co-editor of the Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development. At ICOMOS I am an expert member of the Executive Committee of CIPA Heritage Documentation and communications officer at the Sustainable Development Goals Working Group (SDGWG). As international co-chair of the GA2023 Scientific Symposium and heading our language dirveristy team I promote a diverse and inclusive event. I’m thrilled to work with our team and welcome all participants in Sydney!

Vanicka has trained as an architect, with a specialisation in conservation of built heritage. She has over a decade of experience working in India, focusing on urban regeneration, disasters and heritage. She is currently pursuing her doctoral research at Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, where she examines post-disaster reconstruction practices for heritage in Nepal following the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.

Kai Weise, a Nepali national of Swiss origin, completed his master’s in architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich and has been working as planner and architect in the Himalayan region. He has facilitated management systems for World Heritage properties such as the Kathmandu Valley, Lumbini, Samarkand, Bagan and more recently for Mrauk U. He was mentor for the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting on the application of the World Heritage Convention of cultural properties in South and Central Asia. Kai Weise was responsible for establishing the response and rehabilitation strategy for the culture sector after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake and the 2016 Chauk earthquake in Myanmar. He is presently President of ICOMOS Nepal and member of ICOMOS International Scientific Committees for Risk Preparedness (ICORP) and 20th Century Heritage (ISC 20C). Kai Weise lectures and writes on architecture, planning and heritage management.

Claudia Isabelle Montero is currently a PhD student in the Department of History at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she completed her MPhil in 2019. Her main academic interests are in history and historiography of colonial urban spaces (in the Philippines), built heritage, and heritage conservation practice. An active member of the International Committee for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), she has been involved in several heritage activities in the Philippines. Claudia is a licensed architect and a conservator of historic buildings with applied experience in research documentation and condition survey assessment.

Kate Clark is an industrial archaeologist with a career in museums and heritage policy and leadership. She worked with Ironbridge Gorge Museums, English Heritage, the Heritage Fund and Cadw in the UK, and Sydney Living Museums and Heritage NSW in Australia. She currently holds an AICOMOS scholarship at the University of Canberra, exploring heritage in economic, social and environmental policy.  Kate is passionately interested in how different values shape heritage practice, including public value in heritage organisations. Her latest book, ‘Playing with the Past’, contains c.80 activities and games for trainers, facilitators and communities to explore values in heritage practice.

Susan is the Head, Buildings and Sites at the Getty Conservation Institute, where she is responsible for overseeing a number of international projects that advance conservation practice through research, field projects, dissemination and capacity building on archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, buildings and urban environments. She has worked in the government, private and non-profit sector in Australia, England and the USA. Trained as an architect, she has a MA (Conservation) from the University of York/ ICCROM, Rome and is a certified planner. She is a member and former Vice President of the ICOMOS ISC20.

Giacomo Martinis is an Emerging Professional with experience as a built heritage practitioner. Trained and licensed as an architect, he holds an M.A. in Architectural History from University College London (UCL) and a double M.Sc. in Architectural Conservation from ENSA Paris Val-de-Seine and the University of Venice.

Giacomo has been part of the World Heritage Cities Programme implementing the Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation, and he currently works as Assistant Project Officer at the Secretariat of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. He is keen on the processes leading to the recognition of built and urban heritage elements from the recent past.

Dr Cristina Garduño Freeman is a Senior Lecturer in Architectural History and Theory at UNSW. Her mission is to understand and evaluate how people’s unacknowledged emotional connections with places contribute to our built environment. Her research contributes to the fields of architectural history, critical heritage, and digital humanities in relation to contemporary cities, and modern and industrial architecture.

In 2018 she published her first monograph with Routledge; Participatory Culture and the Social Value of an Architectural Icon: Sydney Opera House. Currently, she is the Secretary of the Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ). She also holds an Honorary Research Fellowship with the Australian Centre for Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage (ACAHUCH) at The University of Melbourne. She has experience in government, having worked at Heritage NSW as well as collaborated with Heritage Victoria and Lovell Chen. Prior to entering academia worked professionally in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Visual Communication Design.

Dr Marco Antonio Chávez-Aguayo is a Professor at the University of Guadalajara (Mexico). His research focuses on intangible heritage, politics and cultural property law and digital technologies. He has Co-designed and co-founded the first Master’s (Research) and PhD programmes in Cultural Management in Latin America. He is the founder and director of Córima, Revista de Investigación en Gestión Cultural and has publications in Spanish, English, and French with recognised imprints including Routledge and Oxford University Press. He has been a Visiting Scholar at several universities in Australia, Finland, UK, Greece, Spain, USA, Colombia, and Ecuador, including Barcelona, Glasgow, and Princeton, and various Mexican institutions. Dr Chávez-Aguayo is a Chartered Scientist by The Science Council (UK), a Chartered Psychologist by The British Psychological Society and a member of the National System of Researchers (Mexico). He sits on the board of several academic programmes, conferences and journals and has frequently been engaged in public dissemination through TV, radio, press and online media. He is also a musician (a tenor).

Aishwarya Deshmukh is an architect and a heritage professional from India. She has the experience of working on several architectural conservation projects while working with two of the leading conservation architects in India.

In 2020, while pursuing her master’s degree in World Heritage Studies from BTU Cottbus,  Aishwarya interned for the World Heritage Leadership Programme at ICCROM, Rome. During her tenure, she majorly assisted with the preliminary evaluation of the 2011 World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy and converting capacity building course curriculum into online modalities. Aishwarya further extended her work at ICCROM through her master’s dissertation, where she explored the long term impacts of entrepreneurial capacity building leading to women’s empowerment and sustainable development of World Heritage Sites.

As an emerging heritage professional, Aishwarya seeks to direct her work towards community engagement and empowerment through capacity building. Additionally, she is inclined towards exploring difficult heritage narratives, developing funding and fundraising mechanisms.

Dr Charlotte Feakins has worked in the heritage sector for twelve years on a range of colonial and First Nations history and heritage research and consulting projects. I am currently Manager of the Community Heritage team at GML Heritage, a researcher on two heritage based Australian Research Council Linkage-projects, and a sessional lecturer at the University of Sydney in the Museum and Heritage Studies Masters Program. I am a Collaborating Scholar at the Research Centre for Deep History at the Australian National University, and Honorary Researcher at the College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU. I have been working as a researcher in Kakadu National Park since 2011, on ARC-Linkage projects and on my own PhD research. I’m currently writing a book, The Buffalo Hunters of Kakadu, based on my PhD research. I am thrilled to be working with the ICOMOS team for the GA2023 in Sydney.

Justin Newhart has over a decade of experience in cultural resource management and protection across the southeast and southwest United States. Since graduating from Tulane University in 2011 with a Masters in Preservation Studies, Justin has focused on protecting tangible and intangible heritage, particularly in Louisiana and Texas. Justin currently serves as the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Fort Worth, where he oversees the second largest preservation program in the State of Texas. Justin enjoys exploring the great outdoors with his wife and corgi, and is excited to welcome twins into his family in September!

Siepke van Keulen is an anthropologist and diplomacy researcher with a focus on museum diplomacy. My main research is on transcultural conflict and conflict prevention based on reparations through cultural heritage. In my research, I focussed on museum diplomacy and how the cultural sector is a defining means in efforts for reparations and the prevention of conflict escalation.

Currently, I freelance for NGOs in the cultural sector as a project developer, moderator, and communication manager. Through my work, I aspire to stimulate intercultural exchange and raise awareness of the pivotal role cultural heritage has in the human experience.

Lyndon Ormond-Parker is an Aboriginal man of Alyawarr descent from the Barkly Tableland region of the Northern Territory. He is an Australian Research Council Research Fellow with the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, Australian National University. He also is the Principal Research Fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society on a project entitled ‘Mapping digital inclusion for informed decision-making in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities’. He has been involved in advocacy, policy development, research and negotiations at the local, national, and international level focused on Indigenous communities, cultural heritage, information technology, digital inclusion, materials conservation, and repatriation. He was an Indigenous expert member of the Australian Heritage Council (2015 to 2021).

Diane Menzies is of Rongowhakaata, Aitanga a Mahaki; English and Scottish descent, living in Aotearoa New Zealand.  A member of the ICOMOS-IFLA ISC on Cultural Landscapes, she leads their Indigenous Perspectives and Knowledge working group, and is a member of the ICOMOS NZ Māori committee. She received the ONZM for services to the environment  and is a Past President and Secretary General of the International Federation of Landscape Architects. She is a Kahui Whetū member of Ngā Aho, the Māori designers’ network, and a trustee of the Landscape Foundation.

Academic qualifications are in landscape architecture, horticulture, business management and mediation, and PhD in Resource Studies. Diane has worked for local and national government and served as a local government elected representative. She was a Commissioner for the NZ Environment Court and is now the director of Landcult Ltd. with interests in research for Māori, housing, cultural landscape and justice.

Zuhura Abdallah Mtenguzi is a Master’s student from the University of Dar es Salaam Tanzania. I have a background in cultural heritage management and am a former Chairperson of the Dar es Salaam University Heritage and Archaeology Student Association (DUHASA) 2020-2021. I am a member of the ICOMOS Emerging Professional for the ICOMOS General Assembly 2023 Scientific Symposium. I am excited to be part of this team to support the GA2023 scientific symposium themes, program and Co-Chairs of Indigenous Heritage.

Melissa Marshall is the Director of the Nulungu Research Institute and holds an Industry-linked ECR Fellowship to investigate the collaborative management and conservation of rock art sites within the context of cultural landscapes. An archaeologist and GIS technician based on the Broome Campus of the University of Notre Dame Australia, Mel has been based in the Kimberley region for close to two decades, where her work is framed by Decolonising and Indigenous Methodologies. With a focus on rock art research, conservation and cultural heritage management, she has worked extensively across northern Australia for more than 20 years with Traditional Owners and Indigenous ranger teams. This culminated in successful completion of doctoral research through the Australian National University (2020), investigating current rock art conservation and management techniques through a decolonising lens as applied in the north of the country.

Clemens Küpper is Evaluations and Operations Officer for World Heritage at IUCN and the IUCN World Heritage Panel’s Executive Officer. He is responsible for coordinating the technical evaluation of new candidate sites nominated to the World Heritage List, as part of IUCN’s role as advisory body on natural World Heritage. In IUCN’s newly established Heritage, Culture and Youth team, he serves as focal point on World Heritage and rights, culture and Indigenous heritage. He has supported the Nature-Culture Journey at the IUCN World Conservation Congress (Marseille, 2021) and the development of IUCN’s new Youth Strategy. Before IUCN, Clemens worked at UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre in Paris. He studied geography, philosophy and economics in Bonn, London and Edinburgh and holds an MSc in Environment, Culture and Society from the University of Edinburgh.

Suramya Bansal is an anthropologist and archaeologist with academic and professional experience in India and South Africa. He received his undergraduate honours in Anthropology from Amity University and coursework masters in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from Delhi University. He is currently completing his research masters in Rock-Art Archaeology from Wits University. As a Salzburg Global Seminar and World Urban Parks Fellow, he contributes to sustainable heritage development through Young Cultural Innovators Forum and Emerging Urban Leaders Forum.

Flavia is a member of Australia ICOMOS with a passion for historic urban landscapes, cultural landscapes and built heritage. Flavia has over 15 years’ experience working as a heritage specialist providing advice at local and state level to the NSW Government, local councils and private entities on various projects related to heritage items and heritage conservation areas. Flavia strives to protect cultural heritage through the development of urban planning policies and grow ethical perspectives on sustainable urban practices.

Ave Paulus is the president of ICOMOS Estonia, a member of ICOMOS Climate Change and Heritage, Rights-Based Approaches working groups, ISCCL-IFLA, ICLAFI, Theophilos and Water Heritage scientific committees. She is an expert member of the European Union OMC Group on Strengthening Cultural Heritage Resilience for Climate Change and the UNESCO panel of experts on Climate Change and the World Heritage. She is a senior specialist for cultural heritage issues in the Environmental Board of Estonia and a Board member of Lahemaa and Alutaguse National Parks` Cooperation Councils. She has coordinated cooperation between heritage communities, states, and universities in more than 30 development projects concerning heritage research and management. She has master’s degrees from the Estonian Academy of Arts (heritage conservation and restoration) and Tartu University (semiotics and theory of culture). Her doctoral thesis (Tartu University) deals with community-based heritage management and cultural rights. Paulus has presented her research and practice results at national and international scientific events and publications. Languages – Estonian, English, Russian

Nargiz Aituganova is a research associate at the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS) in Uzbekistan. She also works as World Heritage coordinator of Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex, and organizes annual World Heritage Volunteers youth action camps in Bolgar and other cultural heritage sites in the Republic of Tatarstan. Nargiz earned a master degree in World Heritage Studies from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, and currently studies a second master in Classic and Oriental Archaeology in the Higher School of Economics National Research University. She is the Emerging Professional representative of the Scientific Symposium at the GA2023.

Shoshanna is a cultural heritage specialist with over 15 years’ experience in Australian heritage management and Native Title research. She has worked in the public and private sectors, providing heritage advice and support and undertaking heritage assessments across Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. She has delivered support and risk-management guidance on a range of large resource development and infrastructure projects, managing the cultural heritage compliance and relationship development, archaeological assessment, negotiation and dispute resolution from inception through to construction and operations. Shoshanna has extensive experience in Aboriginal cultural heritage management and Aboriginal stakeholder consultation. She is focussed on developing and implementing practical and pragmatic heritage advice and building positive and lasting relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

PhD Candidate and researcher in Architecture at Cardiff University in the UK, sponsored by the Hashemite University in Jordan. The chair of ICOMOS Jordan scientific committee for the Sustainable Development Goals Working Group (SDGWG) and one of their representatives in the international ICOMOS SDGWG. Interested mainly in the UN initiatives for Sustainable development including SDGs, HUL and NUA, as well as Heritage-led Urban Regeneration in the context of World Heritage Listing, with a focus on the MENA region. Acquired over six years of experience at As-Salt Greater Municipality/ As-Salt City Development Projects Unit.

After a career as a technical writer, working with engineers and software developers to create accessible medical device documentation, Christy decided to pursue a career that combined her writing skills with her passion for heritage. She has an undergraduate degree in Applied Science from the University of Technology, Sydney and is now undertaking a Masters of Heritage Conservation at the University of Sydney. Christy is excited to be included in the Emerging Professionals (EP) team for ICOMOS GA2023 and looking forward to all that this year’s symposium has to offer.

Erik Champion is an Enterprise Fellow at UniSA, Emeritus Professor (and past UNESCO Chair) at Curtin University, Honorary Research Professor at ANU, and Honorary Research Fellow at UWA, researching digital heritage and serious games. He wrote Rethinking Virtual Places (Indiana University Press, 2021), Critical Gaming: Interactive History and Virtual Heritage (Routledge, 2015), Playing with the Past (Springer, 2011) and Organic Design in Twentieth-Century Nordic Architecture (Routledge, 2019). He edited Virtual Heritage: A Guide (Ubiquity Press,  2021), The Phenomenology of Real and Virtual Places (Routledge, 2018), Game Mods: Design, Theory and Criticism (ETC Press, 2012), and co-edited Cultural Heritage Infrastructures in Digital Humanities (Routledge, 2017).

Verónica Heras is a researcher in the cultural heritage area. Since 2007, she is an Architect for the Universidad de Cuenca. In 2009, she obtained a master’s degree from the Raymond Lemaire International Center for Conservation at KULeuven. Later at the same University, she carried out her doctoral research where she developed a monitoring system based on preventive conservation strategies. She has extensive experience in theory and heritage documentation; which are supported by publications in scientific journals. She currently seeks to combine scientific research with practice and transmit it to students from her teaching experience at the University of Azuay since 2017.

Elyse Hamp is a PhD student in Civil Engineering at Carleton University, and a team leader and researcher at the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS). Her graduate research focuses on the structural analysis of historic unreinforced masonry using digital tools and numerical analysis. She completed her MASc in Civil Engineering in 2021, on the seismic analysis of unreinforced masonry structures with plan irregularities using the Applied Element Method. Elyse has worked internationally with the University of Minho on the HeritageCare preventive conservation project and on the Bagan Conservation Project at CIMS. She has worked as a Teaching Assistant at Carleton University since 2019.