Email: rachel.parle@oum.ox.ac.uk
Phone: 01865 272961
As Interim Head of Exhibitions, Rachel is responsible for the Museum's programme of temporary and permanent exhibitions.
Rachel has jointly managed the first three phases of the Life, as we know it Redisplay Project and is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Museum’s masterplan. This includes working with teams from across the Museum to create exhibition content and recruiting and managing contractors to build the physical display. Rachel also chairs the Museum’s Access Group, a team of people from across the Museum, who work to improve the accessibility of collections, buildings and employment opportunities.
Using visitor evaluation and analysis, Rachel helps to build a clear understanding of the Museum's visitors – who they are and what they expect – as part of its audience development plan. Rachel also commissions contemporary artwork to engage visitors with the themes in the Museum’s special exhibitions.
She has a background in museum education and primary school teaching, which provides a good grounding for work in interpretation, as well as understanding visitor motivation and learning styles.
Rachel started working in museum interpretation and exhibitions in 2014 and has managed multiple special exhibitions and permanent displays. Highlights include:
Kurt Jackson Bees (and the odd wasp) in my bonnet, 2016
Out of the Deep permanent redisplay of two extinct reptile skeletons, 2018
Ian Kirkpatrick Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? Art commission to accompany Museum’s Settlers exhibition, 2018
Angela Palmer 2020:the sphere that changed the world, 2021
Phase 2 of Life, as we know it – 20 new displays on the themes of Biodiversity, Evolution and Earth processes, 2022
Phase 3 of Life, as we know it – 16 new displays on the themes of Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecosystems, 2024
