Rachael Perkins Arenstein is a partner in A.M. Art Conservation, LLC a private practice in the New York area with a specialization in preventive care.  She has implemented and conducted IPM programs in institutions of various sizes in the U.S. and abroad.  She worked on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian Move Project and its extensive pest management program from 2001-2004.  She is a founding member and current Co-Chair of the Integrated Pest Management Working Group which created and supports the www.museumpests.net website and the PestList listserv.  She has held positions at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem, NMAI, the Peabody Museum of Art & Archaeology, the American Museum of Natural History amongst others. Her conservation degree is from the Institute of Archaeology, University of London.

Fran Ritchie is an Objects Conservator at Harpers Ferry Center, focusing on the conservation of natural history materials and decorative arts for sites across the National Park system. Fran graduated from the Art Conservation program at Buffalo State College and holds an MA in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University. She currently serves as the Objects Specialty Group Chair and is a Member-at-Large and Conservation Committee Co-Chair for the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. Fran has taught workshops on the conservation of mammalian taxidermy in New York City, Denver, and in New Zealand, and has taught conservation strategies for natural science collections at New York University’s Conservation Program. She is a Professional Associate of AIC.

Stephanie E. Hornbeck is an art conservator and conservation consultant. From 2017-2021, she served as McCarter Chief Conservator, Anthropology Collections, at the Field Museum. From 2010-2017, she was Director of Conservation at Caryatid Conservation Services, her private practice in object conservation. From 2010-2016, Stephanie worked regularly in Haiti as chief conservator and then consultant to the Smithsonian Institution’s Cultural Rescue Initiative. From 1998-2009, she was Conservator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. She holds an Advanced Certificate in Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (Objects) and M.A. in History of Art and Archaeology from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. The study and care of elephant ivory is a long-standing research interest for Stephanie, who lectures, publishes, and teaches on the subject. In 2019 she co-taught with Terry Drayman Weisser the SPNHC workshop “Identification, Care and Documentation of Mammal Ivories”. In 2018 she taught the Connecting to Collections Care webinar “The Care and Documentation of Ivory”, https://www.connectingtocollec...

Anne Léculier King is a Professional Associate member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) with 27 years of museum and conservation experience. Anne obtained her degree in the Conservation of Cultural Materials from Canberra University, Australia in 1993 where she specialized in Objects Conservation. She has held positions at The Australia Museum and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, and in the Anthropology Department of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Anne’s conservation treatment experience ranges from ethnographic, archeological, historical and contemporary collections, as well as natural history specimens. Anne has been responsible for the technical examination and treatment of a wide range of artifacts, some examples of which include Aboriginal bark paintings, Lapita pottery of New Caledonia, contemporary Vietnamese cultural materials, the iconic Haida canoe of the American Museum of Natural History, and the modern sculpture of Michael Richards. She has been a conservator in private practice since 2010, and joined with A.M. Art Conservation in 2020.

Paul Messier is an independent conservator of photographs working in Boston Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1994, his studio provides conservation services for private and institutional clients throughout the world. The heart of this practice is unique knowledge and ongoing research into photographic papers. The Messier Reference Collection of Photographic Papers plays a vital role in this work.  Continuing with the private practice, Paul was appointed head of the newly formed Lens Media Lab at Yale University in 2015. He received a Masters of Arts and certificate of advanced study in the conservation of works on paper and photographs from the art conservation program at the State University of New York College at Buffalo (SUNY).

Sarah has a B.Sc. from University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon SK Canada), a Master of Art Conservation from Queen’s University (Kingston ON Canada) and has worked in the conservation labs of the Glenbow Museum (Calgary, AB), Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, ON), Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the MacKenzie Gallery (both Regina, SK) and National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa). In 1997, Ms. Spafford-Ricci founded Fraser Spafford Ricci Art & Archival Conservation Inc. where she remains the Principal Conservator. The lab employs 5 conservators of different specialties, the largest private lab in Western Canada. Sarah has been on the Executive of the Canadian Association of Conservators (CAC) and was a provincial representative for 16 years. She sat on the Board of the Saskatchewan Museums Association and has worked on peer review panels for grants for Canadian Heritage, the Canadian Archives Association as well as various municipal public art review committees. In 2010, Sarah received the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal for outstanding work in Heritage Conservation. In 2017, Ms. Spafford-Ricci was keynote speaker for the Canadian Conservators Annual Conference, delivering the Per Guldbeck lecture. Sarah has completed over 100 condition surveys and conservation assessments for collections in Canada and the USA, and has taught numerous workshops over the years to community museums, artists and conservators on everything from disaster planning, to storage design, to production of durable art materials, to care of mixed collections. Sarah’s strength lies in her generalist conservation knowledge which allows her to address conservation concerns for both art galleries and historic museums.

Ann Frisina began her career as a technician at the Textile Conservation Workshop in 1989 under the guidance of Senior Conservator, Karen Clark.  While at the Textile Conservation Workshop her work focused on flat textiles such as samplers and quilts. Moving on to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine Textile Conservation Lab, 5 years were spent conserving European tapestries and rugs . After interning in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Upholstery Lab, Ann moved on to Historic New England to work on upholstery conservation. In 2016 she was accepted and attended the Attingham Summer School program, which provided an in depth tour of English Country Houses. Recently in 2019-21 she served as Vice Chair and then Chair for the Textile Specialty Group of American Institute for Conservation. Ann currently works as the textile conservator for the Minnesota Historical Society, preserving and exhibiting a broad and varied textile collection  as well as her own business Heartland Textile Preservation Services, which serves local institutions.

Tara Kennedy is the Head of Preventive Conservation at the Yale Library Center for Preservation and Conservation. She holds a MLIS and a certificate of advanced studies in Library and Archives Conservation from the University of Texas at Austin, an MS in Forensic Science from the University of New Haven, and a bachelor’s degree in Art History from Northwestern University. Before coming to Yale, she was an intern at the National Archives, and worked at the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives, and the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center/ Nebraska State Historical Society in Omaha, Nebraska. She is a Professional Associate with the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). She is an active member of the AIC National Heritage Responders, a group of conservators that specialize in emergency preparedness and response. She is co-chair of the National Heritage Responders Working Group, and former chair of the AIC Health and Safety Network. Outside of her preservation work, she is a volunteer for the Doe Network, the Online International Center for Unidentified and Missing Persons.

Andrew Robb is Head of Photograph Conservation in the Conservation Division of the Library of Congress. He also serves as the Coordinator of the Library’s Preservation Emergency Response Team and is responsible for the preservation housing supplies used across the Library. He has been a conservator and consultant for a variety of institutions, including the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Getty Conservation Institute, the National Park Service, Harvard University, the University of Hawaii, and the National Diet Library, Japan. He has been an Associate Editor of JAIC, a Co-Chair of the Emergency Committee, and Chair and Program Chair of PMG. He has an M.S. from the Winterthur / University of Delaware Art Conservation Program with a major in photograph conservation and a minor in paper conservation. He received a B.A. with honors in the History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Materials Working Group and as a member of the National Heritage Responders. He is a Fellow of AIC.

Sarah Stauderman is a preservation administrator currently working as the Deputy Director, Preservation Programs at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Formerly, she was the Director of the Department of Collections Care and Management at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2015-2021), and from 2000-2015, Sarah was the preservation manager at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. She has worked in related preservation industries such as VidiPax (a magnetic media reformatting company), art galleries, and art museums in development and communications.

She is a contributing editor and author to "Preventive Conservation: Collection Storage" (2019) and she co-edited the publication "Proceedings of the Smithsonian Institution Summit of the Museum Preservation Environment" (2016) available for download at opensi.si.edu. Sarah is the Chair of the Bylaws Committee (2022). She was a member of the board of directors of AIC 2012-2015. She has lectured widely on the history of magnetic media formats and was active on the Electronic Media Group. Her areas of interest include preventive conservation, conservation of contemporary media especially magnetic media, paper and photograph conservation, and museum administration.  

My first exposure to archaeological conservation was an undergraduate field school lecture in Carthage, Tunisia, which focused on how the conservation of lead curse tablets from the circus we were excavating had not only improved the legibility of the tablets but also led to new avenues of research into the social undercurrents in the Roman Empire and the horse-racing world. The marriage of practical methods, knowledge production and people-centered approaches to the study of material culture appealed to me and I was instantly hooked. I completed a Masters in the Conservation of Historic Objects at Durham University and had internships at the British Museum, Museum of London, Institute of Nautical Archaeology in Bodrum, and the Chrysler Museum of Art before being hired by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (CWF) as their archaeological conservator. During my tenure at CWF, I had opportunities to take short sabbaticals and work at the Western Australian Maritime Museum, the Bermuda National Trust, as well as the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and to work on sites in Syria, Belgium and Iraqi Kurdistan. I also taught Introduction to Conservation at the University of Mary Washington (2010-2017) and Approaches to Art Conservation at William and Mary (Spring 2018). In 2018, I completed my PhD through the University of Leicester. It focused on African American tombstones, US Civil War Monuments and the ways that identity, memory and preservation all impact historical narratives.

Stephen Koob was responsible for the care and preservation of all of the Museum’s collections until his retirement in 2020. This included cleaning the glass and making recommendations for its handling, storage, display, and movement. He also oversaw the maintenance and repair of objects in the Museum’s conservation lab, and provided documentation of such objects throughout their repair. Koob collaborated closely with  curators and research scientist to evaluate new acquisitions for condition and quality. He is an expert in dealing with “crizzling,” a condition that affects unstable glass.

A member of numerous professional organizations, including the Archaeological Institute of America, Koob is also a Fellow of the International Institute of Conservation and the American Institute for Conservation. He replaced Dr. Robert Brill as Chairman of Technical Committee 17, which studies the Archaeometry and Conservation of Glass, as part of the International Congress on Glass. He is the author of the book, Conservation and Care of Glass Objects (2006).

Koob holds an MA in Classical Archaeology from Indiana University, and a B.Sc. in Archaeological Conservation and Materials Science from the Institute of Archaeology, University of London. Before joining the Museum staff in 1998, Koob worked for 11 years as conservator, specializing in ceramics and glass, at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Tara Kennedy is the Head of Preventive Conservation at the Yale Library Center for Preservation and Conservation. She holds a MLIS and a certificate of advanced studies in Library and Archives Conservation from the University of Texas at Austin, an MS in Forensic Science from the University of New Haven, and a bachelor’s degree in Art History from Northwestern University. Before coming to Yale, she was an intern at the National Archives, and worked at the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives, and the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center/ Nebraska State Historical Society in Omaha, Nebraska. She is a Professional Associate with the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). She is an active member of the AIC National Heritage Responders, a group of conservators that specialize in emergency preparedness and response. She is co-chair of the National Heritage Responders Working Group, and former chair of the AIC Health and Safety Network. Outside of her preservation work, she is a volunteer for the Doe Network, the Online International Center for Unidentified and Missing Persons.

Eden Burgess is a partner at Cultural Heritage Partners PLLC in Washington, D.C. She practices in cultural heritage, historic preservation, art, museums, and related legal areas. Her practice focuses on legal and government relations representation for cultural heritage, historic preservation, and art and museum organizations. Ms. Burgess helps clients navigate the National Historic Preservation Act, supports historic preservation on the state and federal levels, and provides representation in Indian tribe-related disputes. She has litigated and settled complex claims involving Nazi seizures, wartime looting, forced sales and thefts. Ms. Burgess also publishes and speaks on a broad range of cultural heritage and art issues, and is a Professorial Lecturer in Law for the Advanced Field Placement Program at The George Washington University Law School. She previously taught an art law seminar at GW Law. Prior to her current position, she was a Senior Attorney at Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP for over 10 years. Ms. Burgess is admitted to practice in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Lauren was drawn to conservation from a young age, and focused her studies accordingly. She graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a dual Bachelors Degree in Art History and Historic Preservation (specialised in Architectural Conservation) from Mary Washington College in 2002. She then entered into the graduate program at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, where she continued to study Art History and trained in paintings conservation at the IFA's Conservation Center. She gained additional experience during her training by working at various museums and private studios in Europe & North America.

In 2005 she took up a postgraduate internship at the Hamilton Kerr Institute and received a postgraduate certificate from the University of Cambridge, where she was a member of Trinity College. She continued at the HKI under a Kress Fellowship focused on French paintings from the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Following the completion of her time at the HKI, Lauren worked privately in London and Cambridge, and in 2008 moved to the Netherlands to take up a position first as a paintings conservator for the Instituut Collectie Nederland, and then in 2010 at a private studio in the Netherlands. In her training and subsequent experience, she has worked on a great variety of painted objects, from the sarcophagus of Ramses II to a 14th-century Greek icon to a 19th-century decorative scheme in a Nantucket house to a large contemporary piece in mixed media.

Lauren enjoys the challenges presented by such varied work, and her special interest is in the structural treatment of canvas paintings, which allows her to combine her personal passion for textiles with her love of paintings.  She started her own studio, the Fly Arts Initiative, in 2011 to focus her work on the vibrant art scene in and around Amsterdam and work more closely with clients, both private and institutional, in caring for their collections.  The Fly Arts Initiative relocated to the US in 2012 and is based in New York City.

Norris has authored more than 45 articles/ book chapters on the care of photographic materials and taught/secured support for 170+ preservation workshops and initiatives worldwide from China to Benin. With Jennifer Jae Gutierrez, she co-edited – Issues in the Conservation of Photographs – published by the GCI (2010).  Today, with Bertrand Lavedrine and Nora W. Kennedy, she is co-editing a book with 82 authors worldwide on the conservation of photographic and image collections. Current board service includes the Alliance for HBCU Museums and Galleries, Foundation for the Advancement in Conservation, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Art Materials, American Friends of the National Gallery of Denmark, chair of the ICOM-CC Fund, the University of Delaware Board of Trustees, and advisory councils, including Our World Heritage and the External Advisory Board for NYU Abu Dhabi. Norris was the chair of Heritage Preservation (2003- 2008) and president of the AIC (1993-97) and has led many preservation initiatives worldwide. She has worked with APOYOnline to develop workshops in Colombia, Cuba, and Brazil and co-led the Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative (MEPPI) with the Arab Image Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Getty Conservation Institute.

A Fellow of AIC and IIC, she has received many deeply meaningful professional awards In 2002, Norris was inducted into the University of Delaware's Alumni Wall of Fame. She has received the AIC Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award for outstanding service (1998), the Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award for excellence in the education of conservation professionals (2004), the AIC University Products Award for distinguished achievement in the conservation of cultural property (2008), and the College Art Association/ AIC Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation (2016).   In May 2018, Norris was named a Francis Alison Scholar, UD’s top faculty honor.

Outside of conservation, Norris has served UD as an interim associate dean for the arts, the humanities, social sciences, and graduate education and as vice provost for graduate and professional education – all at UD, a university she treasures.  Grounded by her beloved family, Debbie believes strongly in the power and potential of our profession to strengthen cultural understanding and to foster joy and well-being. Additional passions teal, and (no surprise if you read the webinar agenda), the Beatles. She is grateful for the help of all course assistants and the C2C staff!

Morrigan is a 2022 graduate from the University of Delaware with majors in Art Conservation and Art History and a minor in Museum Studies. In addition to completing her degree, Morrigan also earned a graduate certificate in Historic Preservation.

Since graduating, Morrigan has been working with photographic collections at the University of Delaware, library collections at Hagley Museum and Library, and paintings at Winterthur Museum. She plans to continue learning about different materials and different fields in order to be an advocate for interconnectivity between disciplines.

Annabelle is a 2022 graduate of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. She has trained in some of the world’s leading textile conservation labs, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Abegg-Stiftung, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Bellie is passionate about cultural heritage advocacy and outreach. She strives to make source community engagement and collaboration an integral part of her conservation practice. She believes in placing the power of preservation in stakeholders’ hands and has successfully led digital outreach and repatriation projects with this goal.

In addition to exploring the material questions surrounding textiles and organic objects, Bellie is actively investigating the ways in which the cultural heritage sector can improve its financial and environmental sustainability through grant-writing, consulting, and nonprofit volunteer positions

Julio M. del Hoyo-Meléndez holds a PhD in science and conservation of cultural heritage from the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain. He received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico and the University of Houston, respectively. He was a graduate intern in the Museum Research Laboratory of the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, USA from 2005 to 2006. In 2007, he was awarded a predoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute in Maryland (USA) for conducting research on the action of light on cultural heritage materials. He is the Head the Laboratory of Analysis and Non-Destructive Investigation of Heritage Objects of the National Museum in Krakow in Poland. He is the Editor-in-Chief of JAIC.

Catherine H. Stephens is the Sally and Michael Gordon Conservation Scientist in the David Booth Conservation Department at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). She works with colleagues across the Museum to protect and understand the collection. Prior to joining MoMA, she worked as a preventive conservation scientist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a research-based conservation scientist at both the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage at Yale University and the Art Conservation Research Center at Carnegie Mellon University. She holds a PhD in macromolecular science and engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and two BAs, in chemistry and art history, from SUNY Geneseo. 

Corina E. Rogge is the Andrew W. Mellon Research Scientist at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Menil Collection. She earned a B.A. in chemistry from Bryn Mawr College, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale University and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center (Houston). Before joining the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, she was the Andrew W. Mellon assistant professor in Conservation Science in the Department of Art Conservation at State University of New York Buffalo State. She is currently serving as the Vice-President of the American Institute for Conservation and is a Fellow of that organization and an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation.

George Cooper is Managing Editor for Anthropology, Conservation, Museum Studies & Heritage journals at Routledge, Taylor & Francis and a PhD candidate at UCL’s Centre for Publishing in the Department of Information Studies.