Alysha in her own words
Elected in October 2025 for a XX term, INNZ' new Chair Alysha Painter tells how a scientist from West Coast USA ended up in a leadership role at a Pōneke/ Wellington institution.
Alysha at Milford Sound, New Zealand, in the course of her Master's programme at the University of Otago.
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA, my childhood revolved around trips to museums, zoos, aquariums, and historic sites.
When I graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Biology, I knew I wanted to work somewhere that allowed me to be constantly learning. After a few months, I landed a job as a physics tutor at a local tutoring company. It was at this job that I realized how muct I love supplemental education and providing students with unique ways of learning that they don't get in a classroom. That passion is what brought me to Aotearoa to pursue a Master’s programme in Science Communication.
After being accepted into my Master's programme at the University of Otago , I packed up my life and moved to Dunedin. I was also able to start a casual job at the Otago Museum, and later a part-time job there as a Science Communicator.
My Master’s focused on immersive storytelling, and my thesis project was a choose-your-own-adventure story. The reader finds themselves snowed in and trapped in the wilderness after a summer as a Fire Lookout in the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. This project really highlighted my love for storytelling as a way to engage audiences with nature and conservation, a skill that has become a cornerstone of my professional life.
I finished my Master's thesis in June 2020, in the middle of the Covid pandemic. From there, I got a remote job creating online science courses for highschoolers. Eventually, once things opened up more, I got a job at Te Ara Whānui ki te Rangi Space Place as a Planetarium Presenter. I was so happy to be back working in an educational visitor attraction telling stories about the Southern Skies.
After a while, a role as the Team Leader Visitor Experience came up at Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo, and I was thrilled when I was offered the role. I have been in this position at the Zoo since 2021 and absolutely love my job.
I run a team of 15 Rangers who deliver our visitor experiences each day, as well as oversee all visitor products such as tours, sleepovers, and Close Encounters with animals. In October 2025 I took over as Chairperson of INNZ and have been loving the opportunity to work with other NZ-based historic sites, museums, zoos, aquariums, gardens, and tour companies to bolster the industry and provide those same fun learning experiences that hooked me as a child.