Invitations & Consultation

2008 — Present

The Moulton Museum - Permanent exhibition Conceptual Design Package, 2026

The Museum of Utah, Utah Historical Society - Change and Transitional Management, 2025

The University of Arizona Mining, Mineral, and Natural Resource Museum - Visitor Experience Master Plan development, 2024 - present

The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum - First in Class: Educational curriculum development and assessment, 2026 - ongoing; Yakyu: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game exhibition design consultation, 2025; Digital youth engagement strategies for the Black Baseball Initiative, Souls of the Game, 2023 - 2024

Institute of Museum and Library Services - Convening: Museum Leadership in Challenging Times, 2023

The National LGBTQ+ Museum - Federal grant proposal for inclusive museum design, 2023

The Other Side Village - Design charrette and Museum project kick off, 2023 - 2024

Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation - Museum management and exhibition services, 2023 - ongoing

Bildung Strategie 2025+ - Advisor to a nationwide explorative education program for teens and their families sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sport, Liechtenstein, 2020.

The Art and Design of Museum Education - Museum Studies course, Utah Valley University; Brigham Young University; Westminster College; State University of New York; 2017 - 2025.

The Creative Life - Marymount Manhattan College Senior Seminars, 2016. The Other Side Academy Student Seminar, 2021.

Igniting Inquiry, How to Engage Students in Scientific Explorations - University of Utah pre-service Science Methods course, Department of Teaching and Learning, 2008 - 2013.

Beyond Inquiry to Authentic Experience, Creating Education Programs that are Learner-Driven - Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 2009.

“Scientia” - Science content expert and visiting instructor, University of Utah Children’s Dance Theater, 2008.

Lorie has helped many non-profits across the country and around the world develop ideas into reality. She has channeled her passion for the natural world, its people, objects, and the stories they represent into designing award-winning museum venues, exhibitions, educational programming, and community-centric experiences.

Thanksgiving Point Institute, 2013 — 2023

Recruited by Thanksgiving Point to inform the design the Museum of Natural Curiosity, opened in 2014, Lorie brought over 20 years of program design and educational expertise to bear on this fully interactive family-focused science, exploration, and art museum. She was then asked to create and lead the Institute's first Education Department, growing it from 8 to 75 Education Explorers in less than 2 years and increasing programming earned revenue by 85% in its first year. During this time, she oversaw the development of 2 statewide science outreach programs, visiting every elementary and middle school in Utah and garnering $750,000 (initially) in ongoing legislative support. Her team's focus was on building outreach partnerships with diverse and often marginalized segments of the community.
Lorie oversaw exhibit and programming development, audience research, volunteers, science and collections, and multiple teams with 7-figure budgets. She led the design and construction of Butterfly Biosphere, opened in 2019, employing the creative skills of an entire elementary school to create kid-focused and meaningful exhibits for diverse families. Lorie led nationally recognized research and publications on the social impacts of museum visitation, and worked tirelessly to cultivate and initiate inclusion, equity, diversity, and access efforts.
Community Service Award, Student and Family Programs
Utah Association of Gifted Children, 2019
True Inspiration, Emerging Leaders Youth Development Program
Chick-Fil-A, 2018
Business and Education Partnership Award, K-12 Field Trip Programs
Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce, 2016

Discovery Zone Gallery, Butterfly Biosphere

Rainforest Gallery, Museum of Natural Curiosity

Example of the elementary students' design & result.

Costa Rica Climber Gallery, Butterfly Biosphere — Example of the elementary students' design & result. Costa Rica Climber Gallery, Butterfly Biosphere

Butterfly Conservatory, Butterfly Biosphere

Natural History Museum of Utah, 1995 — 2013

Engaged to develop the museum’s statewide outreach program, Lorie grew it into a highly regarded model (still in use), garnering $500,000 (initially) in ongoing legislative funding. Here, she innovated new approaches to education centering the learner instead of the content, developed kits for checkout to bring authentic specimens and artifacts to Utah classrooms, and applied the same approaches to teacher professional development, taking them out of the classroom and involving them in real world science.
Lorie's collaborative nature and community-building acumen allowed her to build bridges between departments. She volunteered herself and her education team as field research assistants, building trusting relationships over time that resulted in curators and collections managers fully involved in educational efforts, coming out of the lab to visit classrooms throughout the state, conducting teacher trainings in the field, and providing specimens and artifacts for educational use.
During this time, Lorie also served as Primary Investigator for an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant to train and develop resources for scientists to help them work with children and public audiences. This work was recognized beyond the museum and Lorie was asked to help write and administer a multi-year, multi-million dollar National Science Foundation GK-12 grant with the University of Utah's Department of Geology and Geophysics and the Salt Lake City School District. As Interim Program Manager and member of the steering committee, she led graduate research seminars to train these scientists to engage K-12 students.
The partnerships she developed as a result of that work led to an invitation to design a Museum Science and Outdoor Explorations elective course for Salt Lake City School District's new charter school, The Salt Lake Center for Science Education. In a culmination of the approaches she innovated, the relationships developed, and experience gained, Lorie's course was student-led and supported by scientists and museum professionals as facilitators for students' research.
As the museum looked forward to a new location, they recognized the need to develop immersive and curiosity-provoking spaces in their new home, opened 2011. To that end, Lorie led the design of the children’s gallery, “Our Backyard” and the 3 gallery-embedded Learning Labs involving visitors to those spaces in their own playful research.
Utah Environmental Education Program of the Year
Utah Society for Environmental Education, 2010 & 2012 Nominee
Environmental Educator of the Year
Utah Society for Environmental Education, 2010 Nominee
Best of State — Educational Services
Best of State, 2008 Nominee