(Click to Read Bio) Kirsten is the Executive Director of the Cayuga Museum. She first joined the staff in 2013 as curator, and has held the position of Executive Director since 2019. Her passion for the museum field is continually reinforced through new discoveries in the permanent collection and the possibilities of what is to come through the revitalization of the City of Auburn and the strategic direction of the Museum. Spending most of her career making connections in the community, she currently serves as the Auburn City Historian, Chair of Auburn’s Historic and Cultural Sites Commission, is a board member of the Howland Stone Store Museum and the Cayuga County Convention and Visitors Bureau; as well as a member of the United Way Funds Review Panel. In 2020 she received the Chamber of Commerce’s Terri Bridenbecker Outstanding Young Professionals Award. A Pennsylvania native, Kirsten has lived and worked in Syracuse and Cayuga County for over ten years. She received a BA in Art History from Penn State University, and later attended Syracuse University to receive an MA in Museum Studies. Prior to joining the Cayuga Museum, she worked at the Museum of Texas Tech University as a Collections and Preventive Conservation Assistant.
Our Team
Staff
(Click to Read Bio) Haley Boothe is the Curator of the Cayuga Museum. Through the support of a grant from IMLS and the generosity of a private donor she will be spending the next two years developing a plan for a new permanent exhibit. This exhibit will focus on the history of Cayuga County, highlighting many important ways this region has impacted both our nation and the world. Haley is from a small town in Southwest Virginia known as the “Gateway to the Heart of the Appalachian Mountains.” She received a BA in Art History with a focus on East Asian art from Berea College. Her passion for museums was ignited through a position as a Curatorial Assistant at the Doris Ulmann Gallery in Berea, KY. She later received an MA in Museum Studies from Syracuse University. During her time as a master’s student she developed an interest in Auburn through an internship at the Seward House Museum.
(Click to Read Bio) Karyn Radcliffe is the Director of Collections at the Cayuga Museum. She has a bachelor’s degree in history from Hobart and William Smith Colleges where her research focus was on Central American history. She began working at the museum in 2017 as a weekend docent while getting her master’s degree in Museum Studies from Syracuse University. As Director of Collections, Karyn is responsible for caring for the museum’s large collection of objects and archival material. This includes making sure objects are stored correctly, updating policies regarding the care and use of the collections, cataloging, and serving as the contact for community members interested in donating objects to the museum. When she is not working in the collection, Karyn helps to write exhibit text and answers research requests. She enjoys discovering the incredible objects and stories represented in the museum’s collection and sharing them with the community.
(Click to Read Bio) Geoff Starks is the Director of Development and Outreach at the Cayuga Museum, which means everything from fundraising, to marketing, to public programming (and everything in between) falls under his wide-brimmed employment hat. Joining the staff in 2019, Geoff came to this position with a profound love of underrepresented history and art and has seen that passion grow every day as he learns more and more about the massive amount of cultural impact this city, this county, and even this building has had on American and even world history! In 2021, he expanded his involvement in the community when he joined the Friends of the Seymour Library as their Vice President. While New York has been his home state for nearly half of his life, Geoff was born and raised in North Carolina and has lived in nine different cities across the East Coast. Prior to his work at the Cayuga Museum, Geoff worked for the Society for Science and the Public (now the Society for Science) in Washington D.C. as a Development Associate. He received his M.A. in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program at SUNY Oneonta in 2017, and a B.A. in History (and minor in East Asian Studies) from New York University in 2015.
Board of Trustees
Christina Calarco
(Click to Read Bio) Christina Calarco has been on the Board of Trustees since 2015 and has been the President of the Board since 2016. Her involvement with the museum began as a visitor as a child and then an active member later in life. She is a science teacher at Auburn High School with degrees from Hamilton and LeMoyne College and recently completed her Master Teacher Noyce Fellowship at University of Rochester. Christina was elected in 2021 to serve on the Cayuga County Legislature, representing District 13. Christina is passionate about connecting the museum to the community and STEM education.
Michael Nunno
(Click to Read Bio) Michael Nunno is the Vice president of the Board of Trustees has been a board member since 2018. He serves on the Cayuga Museum’s Governance and the Finance Committees. He views the museum as a significant cultural and educational resource for Auburn and Cayuga County, and its ability to demonstrate and honor indigenous and immigrant contributions to our American laws, politics, wars, commerce, inventions, freedoms, and welfare. The work that we do today is our payment to sustain for future generations the Cayuga Museum’s quality programming and resources. Although retired from Cornell University full-time in 2009, he remains active with the research and extension programs of the Bronfenbrenner Center at Cornell’s College of Human Ecology.
Rhonda Miller
(Click to Read Bio) Rhonda Miller has been on the Board of Trustees since 2019, and served as Secretary since 2020. She also serves on the Collections and Programming committees. Rhonda is the Administrative Assistant for the Mayor and City Council. She is always interested in new and fun ways to engage the community with the rich, diverse history of Cayuga County.
Craig Mietz
(Click to Read Bio) Craig Mietz has been on the Cayuga Museum Board of Trustees since 2016 and became Treasurer in 2023. He is a Mortgage Loan Officer at Lyons National Bank in the local Auburn Market. He is most passionate about the great history that we have preserved in Cayuga County. There is so much right here in our backyard that we take for granted and more that still needs to be discovered.
Patrick A'Hearn
(Click to Read Bio) Patrick A’Hearn was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2023.
Brittany Antonacci
(Click to Read Bio) Brittany Antonacci was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2021. She currently serves as the District Attorney of Cayuga County and specializes in the prosecution of violent and repeat felony offenders. Ms. Antonacci brings a commitment to public service and a desire to help promote the history and culture that the Cayuga Museum, Case Research lab, and Carriage Theatre bring to our local community.
Anna Borsody
(Click to Read Bio) Anna Borsody was appointed to the Board of Trustees in September 2023. She is a Lead Analyst at Johnson & Johnson working in the J&J MedTech sector. Anna remembers visiting the museum as a child and is thrilled to join the board in supporting the museum’s vision of bringing Cayuga County’s history to the next generation.
Ally Colvin
(Click to Read Bio)
Tessa Crawford
(Click to Read Bio) Tessa Crawford, in her words, “has been fortunate enough” to be part of the Cayuga Museum Board of Trustees since 2017. She loves her community and being a part of showcasing the beauty of our local history. Tessa works in the business office for the Auburn Enlarged City School District, where she has been employed since 2017.
Victoria Fitzgerald
(Click to Read Bio) Victoria Fitzgerald joined the board in 2022. Victoria is an avid artist and supporter of the arts in Auburn. She has had a previous exhibit at the museum and has been an active member of the museum for many years. She has taught art and yoga to the local community. Victoria currently works in healthcare and is pursuing an advanced degree in the healthcare field.
Jack Hardy
(Click to Read Bio) Jack Hardy, has served on the museum’s board since 2016. He retired from Colgate Palmolive in 2006, returning to his hometown and the home that has been in his family since 1905. He serves/is employed by the City of Auburn as the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission. Currently Jack serves on several boards – Auburn Housing Authority, Cayuga Homesite Development, Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace, Fort Hill Cemetery, The Cayuga County United Way, and is an Elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church. He was drawn to serving on the Cayuga Museum Board because “local history” is important to him …his father Charles Hardy was Auburn’s 1st African-American Firefighter. Both of his parents instilled the value of “community service” while growing up in Auburn. His passions are classic cars and music.
Thomas Hughes
(Click to Read Bio) Tom Hughes has been on the Cayuga Museum Board of Trustees since 2017.
Helen Littman
(Click to Read Bio) Helen Jane Littman recently joined the board in 2021. She has worked in the healthcare field for over 35 years and is currently working as a Senior Manager for Maximus. From an early age Helen has been interested in American history and has had many opportunities to travel in the United States visiting museums, cemeteries and battlefields. She believes strongly that it is through understanding the past that a person obtains clarity and perspective for the future. Helen is committed to collaborating to preserve the Cayuga museum and it’s place in Auburn’s history. Helen enjoys traveling, music, cooking and participating in local events and fund raisers.
David W. Nytch
(Click to Read Bio) David Nytch has been on the Cayuga Museum Board of Trustees since 2019.
