Dea Birkett is an award-winning writer and journalist, author of seven books including Serpent in Paradise and Off the Beaten Track. Three Centuries of Women Travellers (with the National Portrait Gallery). She is a contributor to the Guardian, Mail on Sunday and a wide range of national publications, as well as a regular commentator for the BBC. www.deabirkett.com
Dea is also Director of Kids in Museums, the visitor-led organisation working with museums, galleries, historic houses and heritage sites to make them more welcoming of children and families – in particular those who have never visited before. Dea is passionate about advocating the importance of museums in providing experiences, opportunities and ambitions to young people. The annual Kids in Museums Manifesto is the foremost family friendly audit document in the museum and arts sector. The Telegraph Family Friendly Museum Award, which Kids in Museums founded and runs, is the biggest museum award in Britain and the only one judged by families. www.kidsinmuseums.org.uk
She is Creative Director of Many Rivers Films www.manyriversfilms.co.uk, an Emmy-nominated film company, making challenging dramas and documentaries. In 2011, she was on the Independent’s One Hundred Happy List.
Rebecca Mileham is a writer and editor with fifteen years’ experience in museum interpretation, exhibition development, live presentation and training.
Rebecca helped develop the Science Museum’s 10,000m2 Wellcome Wing extension and led the fast-moving Antenna science news gallery. She was also head of content for the object-rich historical gallery Ingenious Energy and wrote the Science Museum Guide. Since becoming freelance, her projects have included text-writing for exhibitions and museums all over the world, developing trails and resources, and advising museum teams on interpretation.
Rebecca studied Physics and Science Communication at Imperial College London, and has contributed as a science journalist to the Sunday Times, She magazine and many other titles. She has published three books including a community history of her son’s primary school and is a member of the Association of British Science Writers.