NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org
NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org

Our People Stars

Dr Sarah Rusholme - Director

What do you do at Carter? I keep an eye on everything and everyone – making sure we’re doing our very best for all our visitors and stakeholders.

What’s the best part of your job? Seeing it all come together!

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter? The Gravity Well

If you met an alien what would you say? “Fancy a brew?”

Dawn Muir - Marketing & Communications Manager

What do you do at Carter?  I manage and coordinate a range of marketing, advertising and promotional activities designed to raise awareness about Carter and to encourage people to visit us.

What’s the best part of your job?  Witnessing our visitors being inspired by their Carter experience.

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter?  The Māori navigation exhibit.  I am fascinated with the naming of New Zealand by early Māori, who had no GPS positioning or satellite photography available to them. How did they know the North Island was shaped like a fish - Te Ika a Maui?

If you met an alien what would you say?  “Where have you been all my life?”

Dr Claire Bretherton - Education and Public Programmes Manager

What do you do at Carter? I manage the schools’ and public programmes and events at Carter. Along with the rest of the education team I aim to inspire people about the wonders of astronomy and science in general, and encourage them to look up at the beautiful southern skies.

What’s the best part of your job? Seeing the reactions of the public when they learn about a subject that I love.

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter? The columns of sand and the Milky Way

If you met an alien what would you say? “Do you come here often?”

Tracey Harris - Front of House Manager

What do you do at Carter?  As Front of House Manager I have three areas of responsibility; Front of House operations, services and staff, developing and managing our retail environment and Event Management. My goal is to ensure we meet and exceed our customers expectations.

What’s the best part of your job?  Showing people around our environment and amazing them with what we have to offer. Very unique to Wellington.

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter?  The sun

If you met an alien what would you say?  “Have you been here before?”

John Field - Programmes Officer

What do you do at Carter? My role is varied and includes working with, presenting, and producing shows for the public and educational sessions. This has involved learning a new digital planetarium system that has lots of exciting presentation opportunities.

What’s the best part of your job? Working with a wide variety of people from around the world!

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter?  The Digital Orrery

If you met an alien what would you say?  “Na-nu Na-nu! “

Kim Victoria - Office Co-Ordinator

What do you do at Carter? My official job title is Office Co-ordinator, but every day is different. Along with trying to keep everyone in line (!), I also help with our marketing, finance and operations. Every day is a new challenge, a new opportunity and a new achievement. It’s great fun.

What’s the best part of your job?  Learning from everyone I work with - we have a variety of people here with different experience and backgrounds so every day I learn something new.

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter? The Thomas Cooke telescope. It’s beautiful.

If you met an alien what would you say? “Where on earth did you come from?”

Angela Rampton - Booking Coordinator / Planetarium Presenter and Telescope Operator

What do you do at Carter? Help people organise ‘out of this world’ events at Carter Observatory, entertain and educate people about Universe with the Telescope and the Planetarium.

What’s the best part of your job? Seeing people enjoying their time here at Carter Observatory

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter? The Thomas Cooke Telescope! It is 144 years old and in perfect working order. It is such a privilege to operate such a beautiful instrument.

If you met an alien what would you say?  Do you come here often?

Naiomi Murgatroyd - Front of House Supervisor

What do you do at Carter? I run the Front Desk on weekdays and help oversee our Front of House operations and staff. This can include anything from selling tickets to giving guided tours and generally helping out our visitors.

What’s the best part of your job? Getting to meet people from all around the world and giving them a great experience here at Carter.

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter?  The library because it’s so peaceful.

If you met an alien what would you say? “Anyone for a sausage roll?”

Valerie Love - Education and Group Bookings Coordinator

What do you do at Carter?  I manage the educational and group bookings at Carter, so I work with teachers and community groups to coordinate the details of their visit. And it’s my job to keep the calendar organized and make sure everyone knows what’s happening when!

What’s the best part of your job?  I love working with schools, as well as coordinating the schedules of our fabulous educational presenters!

What’s your favourite exhibit at Carter?  The Southern Cross. Being a transplant from the Northern Hemisphere, I get excited whenever I see it up in the sky.

If you met an alien what would you say? “How was the flight?” 

Contact details

info@carterobservatory.org

phone: +64 4 910 3140

Carter Observatory, PO Box 2909, Wellington 6140

See a map of how to find us

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