Cassie Newland

Dr Cassie Newland is an Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage and Director of the Cultural Heritage Institute at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU), Swindon. She leads the MSc programmes in Conservation and Management of Historic Buildings and Cultural Heritage Management. As an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion champion, she is committed to widening participation in higher education. Her academic background includes heritage consultancy work across commercial, ecclesiastical, and domestic sectors.

Education: PhD Archaeology (Bristol), MA Historical Archaeology (Bristol), BA Hons Society, Economy and Social Policy (Exeter).

Research focuses on three main areas: the archaeology of science (early plant-based plastics and their socio-ecological impacts), telecommunication technologies' global histories, and contested heritage negotiations. She employs interdisciplinary methods to re-centre human experiences within technological narratives. Current research includes the AHRC-funded 'Scrambled Messages' project on 19th-century telegraphy and the 'Economic Object: Gutta Percha' study.

Award-winning media contributor with appearances on Time Team, The One Show, and BBC Radio, Cassie bridges academic research with public engagement. Her exhibitions include 'Victorians Decoded: Art and Telegraphy' (2016-17) and 'The Van Project' (2006-09).

Teaching responsibilities include programme leadership for three MSc programmes and supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations. She currently supervises PhD students and examines external PhD candidates.