Meet the Curator - Keely Rennie-Tucker

Keely Rennie-Tucker is a Museum Curator with the Museum Services Program in the Regional Office for Regions 3, 4, and 5, located in Omaha, Nebraska.

How long have you worked with museum collections?
For the last 22 years, I worked in museum collections at universities, a corporate collection, and the National Park Service. My museum career began when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Oklahoma. (My family might argue it began when I organized and counted my sticker collection when I was five; each bag had an item count for the type of stickers in it!) I volunteered at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History (then, the Stovall Museum) making molds and casts of archeological objects in preparation for new museum exhibits. I then transitioned to vertebrate fossil preparation and completed a summer of paleontology fieldwork in Utah and Montana. During that time, I helped move the fossil collections to the new museum.

Graduate school brought me to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Museum Studies Program, and I continued work in the fossil preparation laboratory. My first NPS experience was at Wind Cave National Park (WICA) as a summer intern during graduate school. That summer, I knew my career path needed to be with the NPS. The following summer I worked as a seasonal Museum Technician at Homestead National Monument of America (HOME).

After graduation, I accepted a position with the Union Pacific Museum as curator. They hired me to prepare and pack the archival collections for their new home in Council Bluffs, IA. Appreciating what federal museum collections had to offer, I left the private sector after almost three years and went to HOME. After three years with HOME, I started working for the MWRO Museum Program and completed a second master’s degree in Anthropology.

What do you like about being an NPS curator?

To be quite honest, the level of standard and accountability we maintain (remember the stickers?). Working in university, private, and government museums was enlightening, and my professional standards are most consistent with the mission of the NPS. In addition, the museum collections in the MWR are fascinating! I enjoy working with all types of collections from natural history specimens to historic house museums. Every discipline has its own unique challenges, and I learn something new every week.

What's your favorite part of your job?

Seriously, all of it. I love working in the regional office because it gives me the opportunity to challenge myself on many different levels as well as travel to the parks. However, if I had to choose one favorite part – it is the people in the field. We have an amazing crew of museum professionals that work for the NPS. The Midwest Region, in particular, has some of the most kind, passionate, genuine, and hard-working folks I have ever met and have the pleasure of working with every week. They are lifelong colleagues and friends.

How many collections have you helped to move and inventory?

Including positions held prior to the NPS, I have led a team or assisted on at least 15 pack and moves of museum collections ranging from small archival collections to entire park collections that are large and complex. We move museum collections for temporary removal to an offsite location for hardening of facilities, in preparation for new storage or new exhibit space, or for long-term storage. The longest move I participated in was from West Virginia to Texas.

Other interesting things:

My husband and I have a dog, Katie, who provides us love and entertainment every single day.

The paleontologist featured in Niobrara Scenic River’s short film “Flowing through Time”, is my husband, Shane Tucker. You can see it here.