Garden Museum Learning Team

Over her 17 years at the Garden Museum, Janine has worked with a range of audiences including schools, families and community groups both in the museum and as outreach projects. She is now mainly concentrating on working with community groups and programmes like Clay for Dementia, and SEND school projects including outreach. Janine is passionate about championing Sustainability and Diversity across her work.

Janine loves learning and is always going on courses especially creative ones, she also enjoys gardening and had an allotment for 20 years. This year Janine has instigated a Dye bed project at the museum and is also hoping to do the same at her art studio. Before joining the Garden Museum Janine was a secondary school teacher, it was starting an after school gardening club in her last school that inspired her to continue her work in this area.

Ceri has been the Food Educator, facilitating cooking workshops at the Museum at the Garden Museum for 7 years. Ceri has a passion for filling her plates with colourful vegetables and celebrates seasonal food though her sessions. She believes that anyone can cook a decent meal, given the right encouragement and practice. She is particularly keen on teaching knife skills, and incorporates practice into all her classes whether you are 5 or 85!

As well as working here Ceri works as a food and recipe writer and is a freelance chef for wellbeing retreats. Her first cookery book ‘ It Starts with Veg’ was published by Pavilion books earlier this year.
Outside of the Museum Ceri enjoys musical hobbies, and is trying her best to grow herbs on a North East facing balcony.

Samia is now entering her seventh year as the Plant Science Educator at the Garden Museum. She has developed the museum’s secondary school sessions aligned with the National Curriculum and exam board in addition to introducing the UK’s only free GCSE Biology revision sessions offered by a museum during the Easter holidays on site at the museum. Samia has also significantly expanded the Primary School plant science programme which comprises of practical investigations.

With nearly 25 years of international experience as a Post Harvest Technologist, Samia has worked alongside growers in the UK and around the world. In addition to industry experience, she is a qualified Biology teacher and has taught in Secondary schools.

With a passion for fruit, plants and education, don’t get Samia started on the topic of fruit unless you want to know the difference between climacteric and non-climacteric fruit, early and late season varieties of the same crop and why you should keep different fruit in different bowls.

Never go shopping for fruit with Samia unless you have hours to spare!

Samia also enjoys roaming in bookshops, history, live music and cooking.

Gemma is the newest member of the learning team, joining in the summer of 2023 as Family Learning Officer.  Gemma has created a consistent family learning offer for both early years and families of school age children at weekends and during school holidays.  She is passionate about building a family community at the museum through art and nature, with a diverse range of activities from clay to collage to gelli printing and cyanotype.  She is always looking to try a new technique and introduce it to our families.  Currently, gelli plate printing with leaves and flowers from our healing garden.  Everyone is an artist!

Her experience comes from 10 years in fashion buying, followed by 10 years working in a Lambeth primary school planning and running art lessons.

Outside the museum Gemma can be found reading, visiting other museums and galleries, or experimenting with clay.