Staff profile

Dr Lenore Thompson


she/her

Impact Officer & Researcher (Archaeologist)

Lenore Thompson in the University

Subject

Research

Department

Innovation and Research

Research centre

Innovation Centre

ORCiD ID

0000-0003-4473-9811

Campus

All Derby Sites

Email

l.thompson3@derby.ac.uk

About

I am an Impact Officer based in the University Research Knowledge Exchange Office here at the University of Derby. I support academics and researchers in the College of Health and Humanities and the College of Science and Engineering on the topic of research impact. This includes planning impact into research project design and funding bids from the outset, engaging in policy impact at the local, regional and national level, translating research into public engagement events, supporting robust evaluation, and capturing meaningful evidence that impact has been achieved. My aim is to ensure the University derives the maximum benefit from the exceptional work done by researchers at the University of Derby.

I am also an academic researcher and archaeologist. My work focuses on elements of culture contact, colonisation/decolonising, and the way in which archaeological insights can support a more sustainable and equitable future. 

I also study the physical properties of human material culture, investigating how people make things and how things make people by utilising robust theoretical frameworks that explore the how and why of material and artefact production and consumption. I have experience with microscopy, pXRF, SEM, LA ICP MS, and where appropriate, contextualise my research with experimental archaeology, oral histories, traditional knowledge, and historic texts.

Teaching responsibilities

As an Impact Officer, I provide training and resources designed to support the planning and embedding of impact into research projects with the aim of maximising their societal value. This can range from framing an initial funding bid, designing public engagement activities to disseminate research in a meaningful way, engaging with the UK Government, and impact evaluation.

I am open to PhD supervision on topics of heritage and history, and have a particular interest in ways that our past can inform a sustainable future.

Professional interests

I am interested in exploring the following topics, and am open to developing collaborations:

Research interests

My research interests are intersectional. I am interested in studying and promoting local, regional, and international heritage, and how this relates to our treatment of the world, climate change, health, and wellbeing. I am interested in the study of colonial entanglements and impacts through time, the importance of decolonisation, and how this is mediated through our material culture in spaces such as museums and the academy.

As a material scientist, my interests also focus on the interrogation of material culture, using various avenues of investigation including macroscopic analysis, XRF techniques, microscopy, mass spectrometry, chaîne opératoire analysis, ethnographic data, primary documents, oral histories, academic research, excavation data, and experimental activities, to explore questions about the cultural entanglements of our past and how they impact the world today.

My current research is focused on the impacts of historic environmental pollution on the world around us, with the aim of offering new narratives about how past industrialisation activities have influenced today's world and what lessons can be learned that can support pathways to a more equitable future. 

Membership of professional bodies

Qualifications

Recent conferences

Experience in industry

Current PI on British Academy funded project, ECRNSF24\240242, ‘An Atmosphere of Industrialisation: Characterising pollution and its impacts on heritage and history’, collaborating with Derby Museums Trust and The University of Manchester. 

I have worked as a professional archaeologist since 2006 and have gained significant experience in the field, office, lab, and museum settings. This experience has allowed me to build my skills in developing all aspects of a commercial research project while working closely with multiple stakeholders, including local community members, corporate developers, academic researchers, and government regulatory bodies. While working in the industry, I have also delivered cultural heritage management courses to local Indigenous communities and supported academic field schools focused on both traditional and wet-site excavation.

As a community heritage consultant, I strive to work with communities to build new and strengthen old connections between people and places. I enjoy incorporating elements of shared local history to contextualise and deepen these networks.

International experience

I began my professional career as an archaeologist working on the west coast of Canada and have since had the opportunity to work in many places around the world. This includes the West Coast of the USA, Belize, China, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Russia.

Recent publications