Our Staff

Doug Cowie

Museum Manager

Doug began working at the Marine Museum in 2011 after spending 34 years in the marine industry working on everything from boats, building boats, and surveying boats to writing about boats and industry standards for boating safety. A lifelong sailor, he has logged many nautical miles of ocean sailing, but enjoys dinghy sailing most in Kingston harbour and an occasional spin on his DN iceboat.

Doug is also a Director on the Board of the Kingston Association of Museums, Art Galleries and Historic Sites and is a member of its Marketing Committee.

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Dr Michelle Clarabut

Programs and Communications Manager

Michelle joined the Museum in April 2019 with a background in research, education and advancement. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree from Queen’s University in Art History and Italian, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Guelph in European Studies and recently completed her Doctorate in Cultural History from Royal Holloway, University of London. During her time at Royal Holloway, Michelle lectured in cultural history and worked in Advancement.

Michelle volunteers on the Board of the Navy League of Canada, Kingston Branch. She has previously volunteered with Kingston Association of Museums, Art Galleries and Historic Sites as Chair of the Marketing Committee and has been involved with numerous research and public engagement initiatives aimed at connecting people with the cultural heritage of Kingston. As a Kingstonian, Michelle also holds a personal connection to the Marine Museum, recalling fondly the visits she made with her grandfather all those years ago.

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Daniel Rose

Programs and Collections Assistant

Daniel Rose is thrilled to be re-joining the crew at the Marine Museum as an Interpreter delivering historic site tours and supporting program and collections work. Daniel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in History from Queen’s University (with a focus on Confederation-era Canadian history) in 2015 before completing a Master of Museum Studies degree at the University of Toronto in 2018. After spending several summers as a uniformed military interpreter at Fort Henry National Historic Site, Daniel was inspired to pursue a career in the museum industry in order to share his passion for local history. His previous experience includes two summers spent as a museum intern at Fort Henry and volunteering at the Museum of Health Care. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniel served as assistant and team leader at Canada’s Penitentiary Museum for almost two years.

In his spare time, Daniel sits on the board of the Fort Henry Guard Club of Canada and is responsible for managing the Club’s collection. As the Club’s archivist, Daniel collaborated with staff and management at Fort Henry to produce the Spirit of the Fort Henry Guard exhibit, which opened in August 2018 thanks to funding from a City of Kingston Heritage Fund grant.

 

Caramel (aka "Cara")

Visitor Services and freshwater shark in training

Caramel joined the Museum in July 2021 as the Museum's unofficial mascot. On a typical day, Caramel welcomes visitors to the Museum and for Museum programs ensuring everyone gets an opportunity to give her an ear scratch and/or belly rub (she's not picky). Her other job is to guard the gallery and ensure no one commandeers any of our ships; she takes this role very seriously.

She is currently working towards her freshwater shark qualification which she expects to earn by summer 2022. Caramel is also one of our bilingual staff members.

Kesha Ongagna

Museum Assistant - Programs, Summer 2023

As of fall 2023, Kesha is going into her fourth year of undergraduate studies at Queen’s University, majoring in Philosophy and minoring in History. She hopes to get into law school after graduating and becoming a defense attorney specializing in human rights cases. 

Kesha is glad to work this summer at the museum, taking part in various projects that will draw her closer to the Kingston community. Growing up, history was always her strongest subject because of the passion she had for understanding where people came from and what shaped them and their environment. 

Understanding history is important to actualizing the future, so Kesha hopes to learn as much as she can about the city’s history and connect with the local community.

Kesha's position is funded by Canada Summer Jobs.

 

Cassidy Rae

Communications and Marketing Assistant, Summer 2023

Cassidy is a second-year Commerce student attending Queen’s Universities Smith School of Business. She hopes to pursue a career in Marketing and Communications and is excited to have the opportunity to work in her desired field, beginning at the Marine Museum.

Cassidy is hopeful that working at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston will help her to reconnect with her maritime upbringing. She was born in Nova Scotia and grew up there before moving to Ontario. Cassidy’s family now lives in British Columbia, and her love for the outdoors has amplified her interest in sustainability and community involvement. She believes the Marine Museum is an exceptional opportunity to connect with the Kingston community. Having lived coast to coast across Canada, Cassidy is looking forward to sharing the history of Canada’s Great Lakes through various marketing mediums.

Cassidy's position is funded by Young Canada Works.

 

Eve Thomson

Museum Assistant - Programs, Summer 2023

Eve is a fourth-year student at Queen's University. She is working towards completing her Batchelor of Arts in Psychology with a Sociology Minor. Following her undergraduate degree, Eve hopes to travel and see as much of the world as she can before applying to graduate school. Eve plans to earn her Master's Degree in School Psychology as well as her PhD in the future.

Eve is delighted to join the team as a Museum Assistant working on Programs. She loves learning and teaching and is looking forward to the opportunity to teach the community about the maritime heritage of the Great Lakes.

Eve's position is funded by Canada Summer Jobs

 

Jessica Sadlowski

Museum Assistant - Tours, Summer 2023

Jess is excited to join the Marine Museum crew after completing her masters in Bioarcheology at Western University, where she focused on using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from dentin (teeth) to reconstruct infant feeding and weaning practices in 19th-century Montreal. She completed her undergraduate degree in Anthropology at McMaster University, with an exchange at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. Shortly after completing her degree, Jess had the opportunity to work with one of her professors on a Paleolithic/Bronze Age archaeological project in Stelida, Naxos, Greece. While in Greece, she discovered a passion for behind-the-scenes maintenance of archeological collections and developed an interest in pursuing a career in museums, culture, and heritage.

She has recently joined Heritage Mississauga as a remote project volunteer, working to identify paleolithic and zooarchaeological materials within their collections. Jess feels that working at the Marine Museum will give her professional development opportunities to propel her toward this goal and allow her to explore all aspects of museum work.

Jess's position is funded by Young Canada Works.