Tamara Serrao-Leiva

Chief Deputy and Curator of Anthropology

Tamara Serrao-Leiva is the Chief Deputy and Curator of Anthropology at the San Bernardino County Museum (SBCM). She is an archaeologist with experience in both Europe and North America since 2008. As a first-generation Spanish American, she completed her master’s degree in Sevilla, Spain and moved back to Redlands where she worked as a professional archaeologist at a local cultural resources management firm. When she started at SBCM in 2015, her dream of strengthening our connection to each other and to our region’s diverse heritage finally came to fruition. The strength of this “why” pushed her to work closely with tribal elders, members, and governments to ensure items held in the museum’s curation facility are cared for appropriately. Under her leadership, the SBCM submitted its first Notices of Intent to Repatriate for ancestors held in trust. This work continues as SBCM looks beyond the legislative environment to the ethical concerns surrounding indigenous collections. Most recently she became the museum’s first female Chief Deputy and oversees the entire curatorial team.  She is also an executive board member of the Redlands Conservancy, a local heritage preservation non-profit. Tamara plans to continue engaging her community and hopes her young family gets to reap the benefits of that work.