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By Emily Stegman
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Mark Mauthner
Photo by Emily Stegman
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Mark Mauthner, GIA's new assistant curator and museum data specialist, says he's always considered himself a "jack-of-all-trades" when it comes to the museum world. And his experience in the field is more than enough to prove he's right.
Mauthner has been involved in collection management, exhibit design, publishing and database management. In his role as director/curator for the Pacific Mineral Museum in Vancouver, he was responsible for all aspects of building and establishing the museum – from the construction to collection acquisition, marketing and education program development.
He has been the assistant curator for the University of British Columbia's Geological Museum, the associate curator of gems and minerals for the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and an exploration geologist for Canamara Geological, Ltd. Not to mention, he's been a contributing writer and editor for several mineral books, magazines and articles and been the curator for two blockbuster gold exhibits for the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Pacific Mineral Museum.
"Mark's extensive knowledge of minerals is a tremendous asset to the Museum as we are working more closely than ever with GIA Research to study gem characteristics from specific localities," says Terri Ottaway, curator of Collections. "Meanwhile, his enthusiasm and broad experience in producing museum exhibits will be put to full use as we continue to expand our in-house displays and develop new ones at other GIA education facilities."
Mauthner, who completed the Canadian Gemmological Association's FCGmA exams in June, boasts an impressive academic background as well, with a bachelor's in modern languages from the University of Lethbridge; a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in geology from the University of British Columbia; and coursework toward a graduate diploma in museum studies at the University of Victoria.
His role at GIA is to help manage exhibits, and a majority of his time involves maintaining the collection information management system – a database he built and designed as a consultant to GIA in 2003. It's not just a catalog, he says, but a system that stores all sorts of information about the GIA collection, including loans and auditing functions, and ties in information from the Institute's Research lab.
Mauthner says he is excited about the opportunity to delve deeper into the technological side of museum management and work more closely with the Research and Information Technology departments.
"In the end, what really drew me to GIA was the ability to move into this new project," Mauthner says. "To this point in my career, I've used databases as tools and only gotten to know as much as I needed to get the job done. I accepted this position with the idea that I would bring those skills to a much higher level – with the goal to bring collection information management at GIA to a world-class level."
Elise Misiorowski, director of the GIA Museum, says she is thrilled to have Mauthner aboard.
"Mark has a unique blend of skills and experience that make him a valuable asset to the GIA Museum," she says. "His past experience, coupled with an interest in writing and photography, ideally meet the growing needs of the GIA Museum."
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