Kelly Morrison

Associate Researcher content

Associate Researcher

Specialisms and Interests

Kelly specialises in audience engagement and heritage interpretation, with a focus on conserving cultural heritage through community narratives to promote sustainable tourism. At the Centre, her work has focussed on applied research projects in heritage and maritime tourism, with a particular interest in creating digital experiences. These include audio tours, websites, apps, interactive maps, and social media content that engage diverse audiences.

Her primary interest is in using trails, routes, and maps to guide visitors toward lesser-known locations. Recent projects include:

  • Ardnamurchan Lighthouse Audio Trail: Collaborated with Ardnamurchan Lighthouse Trust to create an on-site audio trail and support the development of a social media strategy for the community-run attraction.
  • History of Highland Hospitals: Developed an audio trail featuring the medical heritage of Inverness City Centre in collaboration with a father-son team researching the history of Highland hospitals.
  • "Wise Women of Lochaber" Trail: Created a text and image-based trail that shares the stories of two women historically portrayed as witches in local folklore, emphasising their continued inspiration for women today.
  • The Coast that Shaped the World: Coordinated this four-year, European Regional Development-funded project. The initiative gathered over 1,300 stories from communities across the West Coast of Scotland, with 350 stories curated into a website, app, and series of exhibitions.

Qualifications

  • MA (Merit) in Heritage and Interpretation, University of Leicester (2016)
  • BA (Hons) in Corporate Communication, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen (2005)

Professional Background

Kelly has a diverse background in communications, having worked across the private and public sectors in marketing, events, economic development, and visitor attraction management. She previously held the position of Castle Manager at the National Trust for Scotland.

Since 2022, Kelly has expanded her work to focus on storytelling as a tool for place-making. This includes video editing for a Scottish travel writer, crafting research narratives for a historical research agency, and self-publishing a companion guidebook to The Deeside Way, a long-distance route in northeastern Scotland.

Research Interests

  • Cultural heritage tourism
  • Coastal and maritime heritage tourism
  • Trail-based tourism
  • Digital heritage interpretation

Conference Presentations

Morrison, K. (2023) The Power of Stories to Bring Us Together, Even When We Are Apart. Invited speaker on the COAST project at the Association of Heritage Interpretation (AHI) conference, Lincoln (presented remotely), October 2023.

Morrison, K. (2024) Invited speaker on Intangible Knowledge Transmission at the Transnational Island Museologies conference, St. Andrews (presented remotely), June 2024.