#IconBPG25 Conservation Uncovered: Investigation and Discovery in Treatment and Analysis

Ritwika Basak

Ritwika Basak holds a Master’s degree in Conservation, Preservation and Heritage Management from Ambedkar University Delhi. Her practice focuses on the hands-on conservation of material heritage, with experience in paper, paintings, and textiles. Alongside practical conservation, she has a strong academic background in intangible cultural heritage, oral histories, and textile research. She is particularly interested in interdisciplinary approaches that bridge tangible and intangible heritage, and in developing context-sensitive conservation strategies rooted in research and community engagement.

Mhairi Boyle

Paper Conservator, Artworks Conservation Ltd

Mhairi Boyle is a Paper Conservator with an MA in Cultural Materials Conservation from the University of Melbourne and is interested in adapting traditional Asian conservation techniques for the treatment of works on paper. She joined Artworks Conservation Ltd in 2023.

Selene Chersicla

Freelance Conservator

Dr. Selene Chersicla is a freelance conservator specialized in the preservation of paper, parchment and photographic materials. In 2024, she graduated with top honors (110/110 cum laude) from the Higher Education School Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, completing her studies in the conservation of paper, books, parchment and photographic materials (2018–2024). Since then, Dr. Chersicla has contributed to the conservation of contemporary artworks at Atelier Simona Calza in Paris, collaborated on the PNRR Digital Libraries Project at the National Library of Florence and the Uffizi Galleries, and worked in paper conservation at the Charta Laboratory led by Livio Nappo. She also collaborated on the preparation of the exhibition "From Paper to Stone. The Vase of Flowers Model by Edoardo Marchionni" that took place at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Museum.

Clara de la Peña Mc Tigue

Lead Paper Conservator, National Galleries of Scotland

Clara de la Peña Mc Tigue has been Lead Paper Conservator at the National Galleries of Scotland since September 2022, previously holding key roles at the Royal Collection Trust and Royal Museums Greenwich. Previously, she worked as a postgraduate fellow at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library and Museum. Clara has contributed to the conservation profession through research projects, publications, and specialized treatments, including the Van de Velde Drawings project  at RMG and the ongoing study of pastel works. Recent research projects include the technical study of watercolours by JMW Turner at NGS.

Kirsten Dunne ACR

Senior Projects Conservator, National Galleries of Scotland

Kirsten Dunne ACR is Senior Projects Conservator at the National Galleries of Scotland, where she has worked since 2005.  She currently focuses on Time Based Media, Microfading and the application of Technology to Conservation practice. Kirsten holds an MA in Conservation of Fine Art, Works of Art on Paper from Northumbria University and an MA in History of Art from Edinburgh University.

Paola Fagnola

PhD student, Brera Academy of Fine Arts

Paola Fagnola is an Italian book conservator and teacher. Moving the first steps into bookbinding at the age of 16, she learnt bookbinding at the Centro del Bel Libro in Ascona (CH). She graduated in Conservation (library cultural heritage: book and paper, photographic material, time-based media) at ICPAL, Rome, in 2016. She has taught bookbinding and book conservation in Design as well as Conservation Schools, holding lessons and workshops in Turin, Rome, Milan, Alessandria, Spoleto. She’s in charge of Conservation, Education and Communication in the family-owned studio Bottega Fagnola in Turin. She’s currently enrolled as a PhD student at Brera Academy of Fine Arts (Milan, Italy) with a research in the history of Italian bookbinding in the industrial era. 

Richard Hawkes ACR

Director, Artworks Conservation Ltd

Richard Hawkes ACR has been Director of Artworks Conservation Ltd since 2004.  He received an MA Conservation of Fine Art (Works on Paper) from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle and previously worked at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and Museum Conservation Services Ltd, Cambridge.

Aldona Jedrusik

Aldona Jedrusik is a conservator and researcher specializing in the preservation of textile heritage. Beyond conservation practice, she has led interdisciplinary research projects integrating biotechnology, mechanical engineering, artificial intelligence, and 3D design into textile conservation. Her work includes exploring the use of microorganisms for cleaning historic textiles, investigating the mechanical properties of low-density Japanese tissue papers, and assessing the potential of digital technologies in conservation. She initiated development and implementation of new textile conservation strategies at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Currently, she is affiliated with the University for Continuing Education Krems (Austria), where she researches the role of textiles in Armenian manuscripts and printed books.

Amy Junker Heslip ACR

Paper Conservator, Brighton & Hove Museum

Amy Junker Heslip is an Accredited Paper Conservator with over 20 years of experience in the museum sector. In 2024, she began a CHASE-funded collaborative PhD with Brighton & Hove Museums and the University of Sussex, focusing on Chinese export wallpapers from the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. Her research explores the material composition of these wallpapers, including pigment analysis in collaboration with The National Archives. Since 2020, Amy has received multiple research grants from the Paul Mellon Centre and the Wallpaper History Society to investigate the production and interpretation of Chinese export wallpapers. Before joining Brighton & Hove Museums, she worked at major institutions in London including the British Library, British Museum, Courtauld, Tate, and Wellcome Collection. She has received both Kress and Anna Plowden scholarships and regularly teaches at West Dean College and the Universities of Brighton and Lincoln.

Rattan Kaur Rainu

Assistant Conservator, INTACH Conservation Institute

Rattan Kaur Rainu is an Assistant Conservator at the INTACH Conservation Institute, New Delhi. She holds a Master’s degree in Art and Heritage Conservation from the National Museum Institute. Her work encompasses the preventive and remedial conservation of wall paintings, manuscripts, arms and armour, and composite objects. She has contributed to national conservation projects, integrating scientific analysis with traditional practices. Her research interests include risk management, material deterioration, and sustainable conservation.

Lena Krämer

Conservator, Graz University Library

Lena Krämer is a conservator of books and library materials. After obtaining a BA in History and Philosophy, she completed an MA degree in conservation at West Dean College (UK) in 2021. She briefly worked in private practice and is currently a conservator for Graz University Library in Austria.

Nora S. Lockshin

Senior Conservator, Smithsonian Institution Archives

Nora S. Lockshin, Senior Conservator for the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives provides treatment, guidance, research, training and advocacy, and consultation for caregivers of collections throughout the Smithsonian’s museums, education and research centers. She quite enjoys botanizing and painting again, thanks to Adelia Sarah Gates. 

Heather Marshall ACR

Book Conservator, The British Library

Heather Marshall is an Accredited Book Conservator at The British Library. She graduated in 2003 with a Masters in Book Conservation from Camberwell College of Arts. She takes particular interest in historical binding methods, and developing conservation techniques from this. She finds most joy in the decision making and technique development involved in practical book conservation. She has gained experience working at various Institutions and private practice.  She also currently works as a Book Conservator at The College of Arms. 

Elena Mazzoni

Elena Mazzoni is specialized in the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage, with a focus on managing complex projects. Currently involved in the digitization, reconditioning, and restoration of paper materials at Insaid - Document Management Services, a cooperative dedicated to preserving archival documents, photographs, and film reels. Previously, she worked as Museum Conservator and Head of the Historical Archive and Library at the Officina della Scrittura in Turin. Since her graduation Conservation (library cultural heritage: book and paper, photographic material, time-based media) at ICPAL, Rome, in 2021, she collaborated in conservation planning and treatments of paper and photographic artifacts.

Lucia Noor Melita

Lead Conservation Scientist, British Library

Lucia Noor Melita is the Lead Conservation Scientist at the British Library, where she manages the analytical and imaging labs, guiding the technical examination of the Collection and supporting the scientific and conservation research programme. She competed her PhD in Materials Science at UCL. She has expertise in the analysis of a wide range of materials, both traditional and modern, and of museum objects, including paintings, works on paper, photographs, plastics and decorative art. Prior to joining the British Library, Lucia worked as a scientist on modern materials at the V&A and held post-doctoral positions at the British Museum and in the Material Studies Laboratory at UCL.

Simon Philpott

Senior Conservation Technician (Paper and Photographs), Tate

Simon Philpott is Senior Conservation Technician (Paper and Photographs) at Tate. He currently manages a small team of technicians who prepare works on paper and photographs for Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and the busy loans-out program, as well as working closely with acquisitions conservators on projects including preparing works for safe storage. Simon has a MA in Contemporary Fine Art and before joining Tate nine years ago, he had worked primarily in artists’ studios fabricating artworks.

Sofia Pregagnoli

Sofia Pregagnoli is an Italian book and paper conservator. She graduated in Conservation (library cultural heritage: book and paper, photographic material, time-based media) at the University of Tor Vergata, Rome, in 2021. She has completed an extracurricular internship of one year at the Central National Library of Florence and then one of six months at Bottega Fagnola in Turin, and still collaborates with them. In 2024, she has carried out an annual project of research and conservation at the CRPR of Palermo. She is currently involved in restoration projects in Rome.

Yungjin Shin

Book and Paper Conservator

Yungjin is an independent book and paper conservator based in Athens, Ohio, in the United States. She was recently a Pine Tree Foundation Fellow in Book Conservation at the Thaw Conservation Center of the Morgan Library & Museum. Prior to the Morgan, she completed a conservation project for the Gwendolyn Brooks Papers Collection at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. She holds a graduate degree from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, majoring in Library and Archives Conservation Education. Yungjin previously interned and worked at various conservation labs in library institutions, including the University of Chicago Library, the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard University, the New York Academy of Medicine, and the Frick Collection. She also earned a BA in History of Art and an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Marysia Tarnowska

Heritage Scientist

Marysia Tarnowska is a heritage scientist. Most recently, they worked at the British Library as a conservation scientist. Prior to that, they worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Biodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham on AI assisted drug discovery. A chemist by training, Marysia discovered heritage science during their PhD (University of Nottingham) and won an EPSRC IAA grant to expand their thesis on the synthesis of handcuff rotaxanes and other interlocked supramolecules to include red rot in leather in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, London.

Dr Joyce Townsend FIIC ACR

Senior Conservation Scientist, Tate

Dr Joyce Townsend FIIC ACR has been Senior Conservation Scientist at Tate for over three decades.  Her analytical skills include optical and electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and microfading. She is author of How Turner Painted: Materials and Techniques (Thames and Hudson 2019) and many other publications on British artists and has led or participated in numerous technical studies at Tate on 17th-20th century British artists and international artists of the earlier 20th century.

Marc Vermeulen

Head of Heritage Science and Conservation Research, The National Archives (UK)

Marc Vermeulen is Head of Heritage Science and Conservation Research at The National Archives (UK). He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Antwerp (2017). Prior to joining TNA, he was a Mellon Senior Fellow at The Met, where he studied pigments and colorants in Hokusai’s prints to build a production chronology.  As a Research Associate at NU-ACCESS (2019–2022), Marc led projects on colonial-era painting materials, Caribbean art, and arsenic-based pigments in bookbindings, while also contributing to open-access tools for scientific data analysis. At TNA, his current research explores how materiality can inform historical context, using scientific evidence to illuminate the cultural and social dimensions of heritage materials. 

Emily Williams

Paper Conservator, Tate

Emily Williams obtained her BA in Conservation from Camberwell before receiving a postgraduate diploma in Art History from the Courtauld and a dual MA/MSc in Conservation from UCL. She has interned and worked at several institutions in the UK and USA. She has been working as a Paper Conservator at Tate for the past six years, with a particular interest in contemporary art and sustainable practices in conservation. 

Vivian Yip

Paper Conservator, Tate

Vivian Yip is Paper Conservator for Tate Loans-out programme and Exhibitions and Displays for Tate St Ives. Graduated with MA Conservation (UAL, UK) and MArtAdm (UNSW, Australia). She has been working at Tate for the past seven years, with special interest in microfading, hydrogels and sustainable casing for transporting artworks on paper.

Theresa Zammit Lupi ACR

Head of Conservation, Graz University Library

Theresa Zammit Lupi ACR studied art history and book & paper conservation. She received her PhD in London focusing on Renaissance manuscripts and was a research fellow at Harvard University. Since 2021 she is Head of Conservation at Graz University Library, Austria. In May 2023 she discovered UBG I 1946, a fragment that has been interpreted as the oldest precursor to the codex – ‘The Graz Mummy Book’.