Chairman Augusta Historic Preservation Commission, Augusta, Maine, USA

A native of Virginia with 10 years museum experience, Lorie entered the Museum & Heritage Studies Program in 2007 with the aim of understanding more about Heritage sector and the New Zealand culture of her Kiwi husband of thirteen years. Lorie’s dissertation Memory, Performance, Identity: making personal history, making meaning involved a personal journey that moved beyond the “official” museum & heritage sector to develop an understanding of history that draws attention to “people’s” sense of the past rather than the view of the academic curator.

Following the first year of coursework, a work placement at Napier City Council led to full-time employment as a Heritage Researcher/Analyst in the Planning Department (2007 – 2010). Duties primarily involved conducting and managing an extensive study of the CBD Heritage Precinct, a site identified by the Department of Conservation as having World Heritage Potential. Valuable experience was gained in conducting architectural research, writing qualitative assessments against a set of criteria, and interpreting/applying environmental legislation and standards established by the Resource Management Act (RMA) and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (Now Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga).

Lorie was the recipient of a scholarship, “Keepers Preservation Education Fund” in 2012, to participate in a summer Fellowship program sponsored by Maine Preservation, a statewide non-profit historic preservation organization dedicated to the education and advocacy of historic places in the state of Maine, U.S.A.

Lorie is employed by City of Augusta, where she assists the Director of Old Fort Western (1754), a National Historic Landmark and Living Museum in Augusta, Maine. In addition, Lorie holds a civic appointment as Chairman of the Augusta Historic Preservation Commission, and serves on the Board of Directors for Augusta Downtown Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on developing a thriving downtown community by fostering business growth, improving quality of life and beautifying the Capital City's historic city center as a source of pride for residents and visitors alike.

In October 2013, downtown Augusta was designated a Main Street Community, an approach developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980 to encourage economic growth within the context of historic preservation. This four-point approach is currently used in more than 2,200 communities in 44 U.S. states. Augusta is the 10th community in Maine to receive the designation.