Life and Death at Cape Disappointment

“There’s nothing like learning from those who have seen and experienced the most extreme conditions the ocean can offer. D’Amelio’s stories of search and rescue at Cape Disappointment are nothing short of riveting.” –Michael Tougias, New York Times bestselling author of The Finest Hours and A Storm Too Soon

Jason Porter is the Director of Education + Programs at MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture) in Seattle. Previously, he was the Director of Education and Public Engagement at the San Diego Museum of Man and Associate Director of Education at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. His work focuses on experiential education and public programs that serve community, school, family, and teacher audiences and on using the arts as a vehicle for personal and social change.

Prior to his work in the museum world, Jason was a public school teacher. His dissertation examined charter schools meeting the needs of special education students. Professional development activities have included panel presentations at conferences including AAM, CAM, and WMA, and serving as a mentor to emerging museum professionals and a guest lecturer at Harvard University’s Masters in Museum Studies program at the University of Washington’s Museology program. He served as a board member of EdCom (at AAM) from 2014 through 2016, a jurist with the Excellence in Exhibitions competition (at AAM) in 2017 and 2018, a grants reviewer for IMLS (from 2018 to the present) and as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Museum Education since 2016.

Mary Kay Cunningham has served over 35 different cultural institutions or attractions in the diverse roles of consultant, manager, educator, volunteer coordinator, and docent. She founded Dialogue Consulting in 2001 to support institutions in their efforts to improve the visitor experience by inspiring conversational learning through inclusive and collaborative interpretive planning, programming, and professional development.

Mary Kay is the author of The Interpreters Training Manual for Museums (published by AAM in 2004 and translated into Italian by the University of Macerata in 2013) that guides front line staff in facilitating meaningful learning conversations with visitors. She continues her commitment to fostering professional development in the field by serving on the editorial board of The Journal of Museum Education since 2010, creating and serving as an instructor for a graduate-level course on Visitor Experience design at the University of Victoria, B.C. since 2013, and presenting over 45 sessions or workshops in the last 20 years for professional meetings including AAM, WMA, NAI, ASTC, APGA and the Northern California Arts Foundation.