Museums Association of Montana

Keith Patterson, Library Of Congress Director of Teaching with Primary Sources Western Region

Sabre Moore

Sabre Moore is the Executive Director for the Carter County Museum in Ekalaka, MT, home of the Annual Dino Shindig. Her work focuses on developing collaborative partnerships for educational projects with Carter County Public Schools, Museum of the Rockies, Montana State Parks and Project Archaeology. Born and raised on a ranch in Wyoming, Sabre is intimately familiar with rural areas and her work with groups across Montana gives her a special insight into the ways museums can impact communities. She has worked at museums all over the world, including the Museum of Innocence in Istanbul, Turkey and serving as an intern for the Smithsonian Office of International Relations. She and her sister, Stirling Moore co-operate Moore and Moore Livestock, LLC, an agricultural business based out of Douglas, WY.  Sabre received a Bachelor's in History at Montana State University and a Master’s in Museum Studies and Nonprofit Management from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently a PhD student at Montana State University in American Studies with a research focus on rural museums and their contributions to community vitality. She serves on numerous boards throughout the state, including the Montana Governor's Tourism Advisory Council, Visit Southeast Montana, Museums Association of Montana and the Montana Chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association.

Cecelia Gavinsky, Collections Manager at Western Heritage Center 

Cecelia Gavinsky is the collections manager at the Western Heritage Center (WHC) of Billings, MT. Cecelia returned to Billings after obtaining a master’s degree in art history with a concentration in museum studies from the University of Denver. She has worked at the WHC for seven years and in small museums and galleries for over ten years. As a native to Billings, and a museum employee, Cecelia understands the importance of history in Montanan communities through conservation, preservation, and education.

Dave Strohmaier, Missoula County Commissioner 

Matt Lautzenheiser

Matt Lautzenheiser is a native of Ohio, growing up in the small town of Dover about 85 miles south of Cleveland.  He attended Hiram College earning a B.A. in History and the University of Akron where he earned his Master’s Degree also in History.  Following completion of his M.A. at Akron, he was hired as the Site Historian at Hale Farm and Village in Bath, Ohio.  Hale Farm and Village is a living history site that is part of the larger Western Reserve Historical Society centered in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2005, Lautzenheiser was hired as the Executive Director at the Dover Historical Society.  The Dover Historical Society operates the J.E. Reeves Victorian Home.  The museum interprets the home, Reeves family, and local history of rural Tuscarawas County, Ohio. In 2014, Lautzenheiser moved to Missoula, MT where he became the Executive Director of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula.  The Historical Museum interprets the history of Missoula County, the forest products industry, Fort Missoula, and the Alien Detention Center that once held over 2000 foreign nationals during WWII.  The museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums, one of only six museums in the state of Montana with this distinction. Outside of his museum work, Lautzenheiser is an avid reader, and has published three books on local history.  They are; Images of America: Dover and Legendary Locals of Dover with Arcadia Press and The Dover-Phila Football Rivalry: A Tradition Shared Through its Greatest Games with the History Press. Matt is an avid runner and has completed the Boston Marathon twice.  He lives in Missoula with his wife Kelly and two boys, Douglas and Benjamin.

Lauren Hunley

Lauren E. Hunley has spent nearly 20 years in the museum field. Earning her Master of Arts in Learning & Visitor Services in Museums and Galleries through Leicester University in England, she’s worked for both small museums and national museum service organizations. She is the author of 101 Museum Programs on a Shoestring Budget and has presented at numerous museum conferences. She is currently the Community Historian at the Western Heritage Center in Billings, Montana, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Mountain-Plains Museums Association. Her recent projects include Conquering Diseases of the Past, Saints & Sinners: Women Breaking Tradition, and Healthcare on the Crow & Northern Cheyenne Reservations.

Megan J. Hill Sundy, Grants Manager, Humanities Montana

Megan J. Hill Sundy is the grants manager at Humanities Montana. She supports innovative humanities focused organizations in local Montana communities through grants counseling and participatory grant-making. She moved to Montana in 2001 to earn a BA in Classics and a BA in Liberal Studies from the University of Montana. Since that time, Megan has been serving Montanans across the state developing, implementing, and evaluating nonprofit programs in underserved and underrepresented communities. To honor her deep connection with Montana’s landscape and rich sense of community, she obtained an MS in Measurement and Evaluation from American University in 2020 to ensure that community voices are heard and real needs are addressed. Megan is a champion for humanities as a means to bring people and communities together to examine, reflect, and understand the human experience.

Kristin Han Burgoyne, Deputy Director, Grants Director and 504/ADA Accessibility Coordinator

Kristin has held a variety of positions with the Montana Arts Council. She is a true introvert which explains why she can talk so much but then requires a nap. Now that you have attended a conference with her, she considers you one of her people and part of her network, so feel free to call her any time for any reason but don’t be surprised when she shares your contact information with someone she thinks you need to know. Kristin has a degree in Biology/Pre-med from Colorado College. She is fascinated by technology, design, and living creatively. Raised on a farm on the Hi-Line, her career has included traveling the country with Warren Miller Entertainment and working as a program director/instructor for a martial arts school.

Mackenzie Espeland, Program Specialist, Montana Department of Commerce

Mackenzie Espeland is a Program Specialist with the Montana Department of Commerce. In this role, she administers projects that revitalize downtowns, plan community goals, rehabilitate historic structures, and assists organizations through state and federal funding. Before joining Commerce in 2018, Mackenzie previously worked as an Archaeological Surveyor cataloging historic sites and interned with a non-profit to further organizational capacity. She has a B.A. in Anthropology and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Montana State University.

Micky Zurcher, Program Specialist, Montana Department of Commerce

Micky Zurcher is a Program Specialist with the Montana Department of Commerce. In this role, she administers projects that revitalize downtowns, plan community goals, rehabilitate historic structures, and assists organizations through state funding. Before joining Commerce in November of 2022, Micky worked as the Executive Director for the Helena Business Improvement District working to make downtown Helena a beautiful, vibrant, and safe place to work, shop, invest, explore, dine, and play. She has a master’s degree in Community Development from North Dakota State University.

Ciara Ryan, Program Director, Foundation for Montana History

Ciara Ryan is the Program Director at the Foundation for Montana History. Ciara oversees the Foundation’s programs including grants, history tours and special projects.

Zachary Coe, Community Outreach Manager, Foundation for Montana History

Zach Coe is the Community Outreach Manager for The Foundation for Montana History. Zach leads the Foundation’s walking tour program “Helena History Tours”. He also oversees media and events at the Foundation.

Fernanda Mora, Outreach Education Lead 

Fernanda Mora has been with ZooMontana for a little over a year now working within their Education Department, where she wears many hats. She has worked in several animal-related positions across the U.S. and has gotten to experience how different communities have differing needs. As a minority in the animal field, she has gotten a unique insight as to what role an education facility plays in regard to serving the communities around them. 

Charlene Porsild, PhD

Charlene Porsild, is the President and CEO of Foundation for Montana History. A native of Canada’s Yukon, Charlene is an historian, author, administrator, and fundraiser with over 30 years of experience in higher education, museums, archives, and the nonprofit sector.  A former history professor and Fulbright Scholar, she holds degrees from the University of Alberta, the University of Ottawa, and Canada’s Carleton University.

Tate Jones, Executive Director, RMMMH

Tate Jones is a Missoula native and holds B.A. in International Studies from Macalseter College and a Master of Arts degree in History from George Washington University. He is Montana Historian and a University of Montana Doctoral candidate. He serves as Executive Director for the Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History and Vice President of the Northern Rockies Heritage Center, both located at Fort Missoula.

Tate authored the book, Fort Missoula, published in 2013. This book gives a comprehensive history of the Fort from its beginnings in 1877 and discusses the various roles the Fort served in the Missoula community.

Kathy Barton, Guest Services Manager

Kathy Barton is the Guest Services Manager at ZooMontana, where she works with front-line staff to provide visitors with an outstanding experience, from the front gate to exiting through the gift shop. This living museum has been dedicated to the conservation of wildlife across Montana and the 45th Parallel since its opening in 1995. In her five short years, Kathy’s big ideas and streamlined processes, aided by some adorably furry and scaly coworkers, fostered a 66% increase across admission, membership, and gift shop sales. Holding a B.S. in Anthropology and German, her past positions include Curator of Yellowstone County Museum, Collection Inventory Assistant at Mackinac State Historic Parks, and a brief stint on AASLH’s Nomenclature Task Force. She is honored to also serve as a MAM board member.

Amber Doyen, Executive Assistant to the Executive Director, Museum Manager

B.A. English with a focus on Professional Writing, formerly a Business Manager of a Design Build Construction firm, Business consultant with over a decade of professional experience in photography, videography, writing and document design, process development and implementation, journalism and script writing.

Candace Goodluck, Museum and Gift Shop Assistant Manager

Northern Cheyenne, St. Labre Alumni, Independent business owner. A.S. in Business Management, 9 years experience working in the fundraising department of St. Labre, professional beadworker, experienced in guiding art and design to completed product, experienced in photography, online sales, and trained in artifact care and cataloging.

M. Lynn Barnes, Ph.D.,

A dress historian with a research and academic emphasis on Gilded Age fashions and textiles, 1870-1920. She also has an interest in examining the social and material culture of specific time periods as expressed in maritime fashions and the use of textiles and fabrics in ship and yacht interiors. Dr. Barnes holds a master’s degree in international trade and quality perception of outsourced apparel from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in historic dress with an emphasis on the interiors of luxury yachts of the Gilded Age She has held faculty positions at Bluffton University, Eastern Kentucky University and West Virginia University.