EP# 77 - Academy of Natural Science Part V - Museums in a Pandemic - Scott Cooper & Julian Siggers

Today, we have the fifth of the ACADEMY of Natural Sciences +COVIDCalls discussions, and my guests are Julian Siggers president of the Penn Museum and Scott Cooper the ceo of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Scott Cooper, PhD, is the president and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences. An international museum professional and heritage preservation scholar, Cooper has spent more than two decades protecting, transforming and promoting cultural sites and institutions around the world. Cooper studied engineering at the University of Manchester and architectural conservation at Edinburgh College of Art. He was awarded a UNESCO scholarship to study stone conservation in Venice and later returned to Edinburgh to complete his doctoral research on Scottish history. Cooper joined the Academy after four years as vice president of collections, knowledge and engagement at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, Canada. There he devised and implemented innovative learning, visitor experience, exhibitions, research and collections strategies, which together helped transform the institution into Canada’s most popular museum.

Julian Siggers joined the Penn Museum as Williams Director in 2012. He came to Philadelphia from the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, where he was vice president of programs, education, and content communication. He has also served as director of the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum and as head of narrative and broadcast development at the United Kingdom’s National Museum of Science and Industry in London.

Dr. Siggers was an archaeology columnist and on-air television host for seven years with the Discovery Channel, Canada. He taught prehistoric archaeology at the University of Toronto, where he earned his Ph.D. with a specialization in Near Eastern prehistoric archaeology. In September 2020, Dr. Siggers will end his tenure at the Penn Museum when he will become President and CEO of the Field Museum in Chicago.