Museum Staff

David Mead has served for over forty years in many positions at natural and cultural history museums. He began as Curator of Natural History at St. Joseph & Pony Express Museums in Missouri and continued as Exhibits Manager at the Idaho Museum of Natural History before becoming Exhibits Coordinator and eventually Executive Director at Sweetwater County Historical Museum.

David has a Bachelor’s Degree in Commercial Art from Missouri Western State University with academic training in graphic design, marketing, journalism, photography and studio arts including drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture. Although his formal education is in the arts, he has extensive on-the-job experience in history, archaeology, paleontology, geology, biology and other museum-related disciplines.

In his free time, David enjoys hunting, fishing, birding, skiing, floating rivers and other outdoor activities.

Laura Dale is a lifelong Wyomingite, and has called the Southwest, Northeast, and now Southwest corners of the state home. She has always been interested in history and culture and graduated with a degree in Anthropology and Museum Studies from the University of Wyoming. After graduating, Laura began fulfilling her passion of public education and outreach at the Wyoming State Museum and later Wyoming State Parks. She took a brief pause to work for the Wyoming Community Foundation where she applied her skills to their communications and fundraising efforts.

Laura joined the Sweetwater County Historical Museum as the Public Engagement Coordinator in 2025 and since then has focused her efforts on public programming for all ages. As a fifth generation Sweetwater County resident, she looks forward to bringing history to life for visitors to the museum.

She enjoys spending time at her historic craftsman home renovating, crafting, reading, and most importantly, cuddling with her dog. When Laura leaves the comforts of home, you can find her out and about at local events, concerts, book stores, or thrift shops.

Jane Meiter is an experienced curator, serving as collections manager at the Dubois Museum in Wyoming before coming to Green River. She has a Master’s degree in Museum Studies from Durham University, England, and a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from George Washington University, USA.

At the Sweetwater County Historical Museum, Jane works with everything pertaining to the museum's collection. This includes caring for artifacts, filling research requests, and contributing to exhibits. She is focusing on several large projects inside of the collection, including preparing the collection catalog for online use.

Outside of her workplace, Jane enjoys exploring by hiking and cross-country skiing. She enjoys a variety of fiber arts, but primarily knitting and spinning her own yarn.

Diane Butler is a retired business owner, having worked at and owned New Studio Photography and Framing for 42 years. She started as a volunteer at Sweetwater County Museum after retirement, and became a part time employee in 2025, as a Curatorial Assistant. She has digitized the museum's photo album collection and is now working on the New Studio collection of over 200,000 negatives, dating back to 1919. She is excited for the opportunity to continue the preservation of the local photo history.

Diane is a native Wyomingite, having lived in Evanston, Rock Springs, Jackson, Casper, Powell and finally settling back in Rock Springs. She received an Associates Degree at Western Wyoming Community College and used her degree and on the job training to learn photography, photo processing and running a business.

Diane enjoys reading, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, camping, museum hopping, spending time with her husband, three children and their partners, five grandchildren, and her mother.

Dick joined the museum staff as a Museum Services Specialist in 2019, after serving over 30 years in Wyoming law enforcement. He grew up in Lander, Wyoming where he graduated high school in 1971 and later attended Casper College.

A lifelong writer, researcher, and historian, Dick specializes in western history, Wyoming history, military history, law enforcement history, and vintage firearms research. In 2020, he created the museum’s Vintage Firearms Research Program. Gun owners from Wyoming, throughout the United States and Canada, and even overseas contact the museum for information on their firearms and Dick conducts the appropriate research and prepares written reports.

Among his other duties, Dick manages the museum’s gift shop and book store and writes articles about Wyoming and Sweetwater County history for the museum’s Facebook page, local media, and Wyohistory.org.