You can check out each presenter’s abstract by visiting the Abstracts page.
Sam Powell
Sam is a PhD candidate at the University of Birmingham working to create a stylistic typology of ancient Egyptian wooden funerary figures held in UK institutions. She has worked closely with the Egypt Centre, Swansea for many years volunteering in numerous roles, as well as creating their online catalogue. She is director of Abaset Collections Ltd, creating bespoke online collection catalogues for museums and researchers. She holds MA qualifications in both Archaeology (UCL), and Ancient Egyptian Material Culture (Swansea University). As well as wooden funerary figures, Sam’s research interests include the digitisation of museum collections, and object-centred public engagement and outreach projects.
Catarina Miranda
Catarina Miranda graduated in History and has a Master degree in Egyptology. She is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (FCSH) of NOVA University of Lisbon (Portugal) under the supervision of Professor Dr. Maria Helena Trindade Lopes, with a state-funded PhD scholarship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). As part of her PhD research, she spent a year in the UK as a recognised student at the School of Archaeology of the University of Oxford, under the supervision of Professor Dr. Roland Smith. Catarina is also a researcher at CHAM – Centre for the Humanities (NOVA University).
Olivia Kirk
I began my academic journey at Birmingham in 2016, graduating in 2019 with a First-Class degree in Ancient History. I decided to continue my educational development at Birmingham and completed a MA in Antiquity: Classics and Ancient History achieving a Distinction. I am a current Doctoral Researcher at Birmingham.
Reuben Hutchinson-Wong
I am a first year doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham. Before joining the University, I completed my Master’s at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland in New Zealand. I have a keen interest in nineteenth-century New Zealand reception of ancient Egypt and practices of ancient Egyptian tomb reuse as sites of burial – the latter of which is the subject of my doctoral research.
Cannon Fairbairn
Cannon is currently a third-year postgraduate researcher at the University of Birmingham. She received her MA in Art History – Egyptian Art and Archaeology from the University of Memphis.
Olha Zapletniuk
Ph.D candidate in Egyptology
School of Culture and Communication
Department of History, Heritage, and Classics
Swansea University
Valentina Santini
Valentina is currently conducting her PhD in Egyptology at the University of Birmingham, with a research project focused on the analysis of New Kingdom bereavement scenes, from the standpoint of modern Psychology and Anthropology. She worked at the Museo Egizio, in Turin (Italy), whereas now she is currently working at CAMNES, a centre for archaeological studies based in Florence (Italy), where – inter alia – she is dealing with the dissemination of scientific and academic data to the wider public. She is one of the collaborators of the Egypopcult Project, has written various scientific papers and published books for the general audience.
Bente Bladsgaard Jensen
BA and MA graduate in Egyptology from the University of Copenhagen (UoC), with a background working at the National Museum of Denmark and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, in addition to teaching undergraduate Middle Egyptian and ancient Egyptian history at UoC. Currently a third-year PhD fellow at Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Classics.
Emma Stone
I am a Canadian international first year PhD student at the University of Glasgow. I earned an MSc in Ancient Cultures also at Glasgow and I have an Honours BA in Medieval Studies from the University of Ottawa.
Lucilla Butler
This presentation comes from the dissertation for my M.Sc. in Biomedical Egyptology at the University of Manchester (2023). My interest in the orbit stems from my career as an Ophthalmologist. I trained in Oxford and London and did my Higher Specialist Surgical Training in the West Midlands.
Rebecca Lyell
I am a first year PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. I have also achieved my MA and MScR in archaeology from the University of Edinburgh with my MScR in particular focussing on Egyptian archaeology. I am mostly interested in the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods but my current research spans as far as the New Kingdom.
Marion Devigne
Marion Devigne is currently an MA student in Egyptology at the University of Cambridge. She previously completed her undergraduate studies in Archaeology and History at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. She is interested in Late Period funerary practices as well as provenance research and the History of Egyptology. This research is part of several postgraduate research projects focusing on the link between the body and ancient Egypt.
Nermine Ahmed
I am an archaeologist in the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities- Egypt (since 2011). I hold a B.A. in Archaeology from the Department of Graeco-Roman Archaeology and Classical Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Alexandria, Egypt. In 2021, I obtained my Master’s degree in Hellenistic Studies at Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies, University of Alexandria, specializing in Arts, Archaeology, and Architecture, and the Thesis Title: The Water Supply and Resources in Ptolemaic Alexandria (Historical, Cultural, and Archaeological Study). I have been working as an attached inspector with several archaeological missions working in Alexandria for photography & documentation works (ex. El Abd Necropolis site, Kom El Nadura site, Roman theater site in Alexandria, and the archive of the Alexandria Antiquities Dept.). In addition, I have participated in a number of conferences and online seminars held at Universities in Egypt, Italy, and USA, covering Graeco-Roman Archaeology.