Spotlight on Sally Macdonald

What is your role and what does it involve?

UCL has 3 museums open to the public - the Petrie Museum, the Grant Museum and the Art Museum - and all sorts of departmental collections ranging from anthropology to pathology, many of them of international importance. We think UCL may have around a third of a million objects and specimens but that's almost certainly an underestimate because we keep discovering more in people's labs and offices. Our department cares for these collections and helps staff and students use them in their teaching and research.

My job is to make sure that the work we do is absolutely aligned with UCL's priorities. For decades some of these collections fell out of use completely whereas now they're more heavily used than ever. The really exciting part of that is where you get different disciplinary perspectives on collections - engineers working on archaeology or artists with zoology specimens. University museums have such potential to open up new areas of research and teaching.

The other major transformation in the last few years has been the development of UCL's work in public engagement. UCL has always had its public engagement 'stars' but up until four years ago there was no central support for what they did. Now we can offer a whole range of support for staff and students wanting to engage people outside the university with their research and teaching. We offer training, advice on grant applications, small grants for engagement projects and we run some great programmes - Bright Club and Bite Size Lunchtime Lectures - to help people get started. Public engagement is so fundamental to how UCL is perceived and the impact we can have, particularly in London.

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I've been in my current job for 5 years and at UCL for almost 14. Before that I was lucky enough to work in lots of other museum and heritage roles - at English Heritage, Manchester City Art Galleries, the Geffrye Museum and in Croydon, where I set up a museum and exhibition service from scratch.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

This will have them reaching for the sickbags, but I'm most proud of my staff. They're so dedicated, passionate and creative in their work, and they constantly surprise me with new ideas and new ways of working.

What is your life like outside UCL?

Last year, together with two amazing ex UCL students, I set up a social enterprise, Heritage Without Borders to build capacity in heritage skills in situations of poverty and post conflict. We undertook our first projects last summer and have more work coming up in the coming year. Everyone tells you how much work it is to set up a new enterprise, but I think I just ignored that until we started. It does take up a lot of my non-work time, but it's massively rewarding also.

Apart from that, an ideal day for me would include some outdoor swimming, a long walk beside the Thames with my husband and an evening re-watching episodes of The Wire with my younger son.