Speakers
Natalie Brown
Natalie works in the Collection Care Department at The National Archives where she leads the development and delivery of our public, sector, education, and policy engagement programmes. She is also the co-convener of the National Heritage Science Forum Communities Working Group and she sits on the Icon Heritage Science Group Committee.
Natalie is passionate about making conservation and heritage science accessible and interesting to people of all ages and abilities. A privilege of her role is being able to engage with diverse communities and see the work of The National Archives enriched by bringing in new knowledge and perspectives.
Emma Callaghan
I am an Apprentice Conservator at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, enrolled in the Cultural Heritage Conservator Apprenticeship, studying at the University of Lincoln. My work is largely focused on supporting the conservation of HMS Trincomalee at the museum’s site in Hartlepool, and the preventive conservation of the stores and galleries on site.
I am particularly interested in conservation and the management thereof within museums and believe that the apprenticeship course represents ‘the best of both worlds’; learning on the job from conservation professionals whilst exploring the theoretical and academic element of the profession at university.
- Website:
- www.nmrn.org.uk/
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/emma-callaghan-296163242/
Emma Chaplin
Emma Chaplin is a highly experienced and respected museum and heritage professional, currently working as a consultant specialising in business planning and development, collections management and governance review.
She led the Association of Independent Museums from 2018-21 as part of a 30 year career including senior management and curatorial roles in independent and local authority museums.
She is a Fellow of the Museums Association and also acts as an assessor for the scheme.
Robin Dhar
BA(Hons) DipArch RIBA RMaPS
Robin is a London-based Director responsible for a wide variety of award-winning projects involving the repair and alteration of historic buildings. He has a particular interest in bringing new life to decayed and unloved buildings, as well as reinvigorating historic interiors. His dissertation, which received a distinction, was in relation to finding alternative uses for country houses wherein continued family use or opening to the public is not viable. Projects include a wide range of building types, with many notable public and private buildings ranging from the Royal Albert Hall, Windsor Castle and English Heritage properties to top-end residences for private clients in towns and the countryside. He also leads the practice’s sustainability group.- Website:
- www.donaldinsallassociates.co.uk/
Bernard Donoghue OBE
Bernard has been the CEO of the UK’s Association for Leading Visitor Attractions, since 2011 following a career in advocacy, communications, and lobbying, latterly at VisitBritain. ALVA is the principal advocacy body for the most important and significant museums, galleries, palaces, stately homes, cathedrals, heritage sites, gardens, zoos, performance venues and leisure attractions.
In 2017, the Mayor of London appointed Bernard to be the Mayor's Ambassador for Cultural Tourism and a member of the Mayor's Cultural Leadership Board. He is Co-Chair of the London Tourism Recovery Board, tasked with the sustainable recovery of London’ s visitor economy, created in February 2021. He is Co-Chair of the Tourism Advisory Board of London and Partners (VisitLondon) and was previously the Chair of VisitManchester (2006 – 2010).
He was Chair of LIFT, the award-winning London International Festival of Theatre between 2010 and 2021, and was a board member from 2005. Bernard was appointed Chair of the Board of the Bristol Old Vic theatre, the oldest continually working theatre in the English-speaking world, in June 2021.
In November 2021 he was elected Chair of the People’s History Museum, the Museum of Democracy, having been a Trustee since 2018. In January 2022 he became Chair of the London and South East Regional Advisory Board of the National Trust.
He is a former trustee of The Museum of The Home, London; the Heritage Alliance; Kids in Museums; and Centrepoint, the youth homelessness charity. He was a founder trustee of the international LGBTQ Kaleidoscope Trust. He was an appointed member of the Cathedral Council of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, between 2009 and 2023. He was a Trustee of WWF-UK between 2002 and 2008, and then was Chair of the Council of Ambassadors of WWF-UK between 2010 and 2020. He has been a Fellow of WWF-UK since 2020.
He has been a member of the UK Government's Tourism Industry Council, advising Government Ministers on all matters relating to domestic and inbound tourism, since 2016.
He is a guest lecturer on the Oxford Cultural Leaders programme of the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford; on the Masters in Cultural Leadership course of the Royal Academy of the Arts; and on MA and BA courses of the University of Oxford, University College London and Goldsmiths College, University of London.
In 2020 he was named by Blooloop as one of the world’s 50 most influential people in museums, and in July 2021 won the public vote for the COVID Special Recognition Award from the UK Museums and Heritage Awards for his service to, and leadership of the museums and heritage sector in the UK during the pandemic.
He was awarded an OBE in HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honours in 2022 for ‘services to tourism and to culture’.
- Website:
- www.alva.org.uk/
Lorraine Finch ACR
Lorraine is Director of LFCP, which is accelerating the cultural heritage sector’s climate and environmental actions through research, knowledge sharing and resource creation.
Lorraine is a sustainability leader who advocates on the international stage for sustainability in cultural heritage participating in conferences, leading workshops and training, publishing books and articles and collaborating with leaders in the field.
Lorraine is Chair of the Institute of Conservation’s Sustainability Network. In recognition, she was presented with a David Middleton Sustainability Award. Lorraine is a Director of Climate Museum UK and an accredited conservator of archives, photographs, film and sound.
- Website:
- lfcp.co.uk
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/lorraine-finch-8ba97540/
Penny Fisher
In 1994, Penny left the British Museum after a 17 year career as a Chief Conservation Officer of Ceramics and Glass, to start her own business, Gilmour Fisher Restoration.
During her time at the British Museum, she was involved with training including teaching Ceramic Restoration evening classes for ILEA. Coincidentally this is where she met Kirsten.
Since working privately, she has worked with international institutions such as The Ashmolean Museum, The National Trust, The Wallace collection and Rijksmuseum as well as many National and International dealers and collectors. In recent years it has been a pleasure to collaborate with Kirsten.
Ayesha Fuentes
Dr Ayesha Fuentes is an objects conservator specialising in the care of archaeological and ethnographic collections with a focus on ethics, access and risk management. She has a PhD from SOAS University of London and a specific interest in Asian material religion. Her current work as a postdoctoral researcher combines conservation-in-practice as part of a storage move team at MAA Cambridge with on-site consulting for museum colleagues in the southern Himalayas.
- Website:
- www.ayeshafuentes.com
Kate Fugett
Prior to working at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Kate worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Museum, and Cooper-Hewitt. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Art History from Vassar College and a dual degree Master of Arts and Master of Science in Conservation from University College London, Institute of Archaeology. She is the Co-Chair of the American Institute for Conservation’s Sustainability Committee.
- Twitter:
- @Sept11Memorial
- Website:
- www.911memorial.org/
Diane Gwilt
Diane has strategic responsibility for collection care and management at Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales (ACMW). After initially working for the British Museum and the National Trust, she joined ACMW in 1991 as senior conservator in the Department of Archaeology. Since then, she has taken on roles across a wide range of functional areas of the museum, with a focus on project and risk management. Publishing on a range of topics, she has been an external examiner for Durham University and an Associate Lecturer at Cardiff University. Previously Chair of both UKIC and ICON, she has served on the Arts Council England’s Accreditation Committee and latterly the Designation Panel.
- Website:
- museum.wales/
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/diane-gwilt-6b831241/
Jane Henderson ACR
Jane is Professor of Conservation and the Secretary General of the International Institute for Conservation and is chair of the BSI standard group B/560 concerned with the conservation of Tangible Cultural heritage and a European expert for European standards body CEN TC 346. Jane serves on the editorial panel of the Journal of the Institute for Conservation and the Science Museum Journal, is a board member of the Welsh Federation of Museum and Art Galleries, represents Wales on ICOM UK and is a member of the Higher Education Museums and Galleries Fund Review panel. Jane was delighted and honoured to win the Plowden medal in 2021.
- Twitter:
- @LJaneHenderson
- Website:
- profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/hendersonlj
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/jane-henderson-31948522/
Alison Heritage
Alison works in the Strategic Planning Unit at ICCROM, where she serves as focal point for research for the organization, also overseeing ICCROM’s Fellowship Programme. A priority focus within her work is the promotion of collaborative practices in heritage research, to enhance its relevance and impact for diverse communities of interest.
Through her involvement in broad, international community-based initiatives she works to support capacity building and the identification of strategic priorities so that heritage research is better able to respond to current and future sector needs.
- Twitter:
- @ICCROM
- Website:
- www.iccrom.org
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/company/iccrom
Gail Isaac
Gail Isaac has been in post at Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) since February 2020. She studied Hospitality Management at North Herts College and upon completion, worked in the hospitality industry in various management positions.
Making the move to training people in the hospitality industry in 2000, Gail discovered her passion for work-based learning, and particularly Apprenticeships.
Gail has trained, assessed and internally verified Apprentices in different sectors and supported employers and has over the years, acquired a wealth of knowledge about high quality Apprenticeship delivery and funding rules.
- Twitter:
- @WAESonline
- Website:
- www.waes.ac.uk/
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/school/waes_2/mycompany/
Emma Jhita
Emma is Icon’s Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for the development and delivery of Icon’s strategic ambitions. She manages the staff team and works closely with the Board of Trustees, Board Committees, and volunteers drawn from the membership.
Emma is an experienced heritage sector leader and fundraising professional and joined Icon from Historic England where she was Head of Partnerships & Development. Emma has a track record of successful delivery in previous roles as Chief Executive of Didcot Railway Centre, Director of Development at the Jewish Museum London, and Head of Fundraising for The Postal Museum.
Carola Del Mese
Carola Del Mese holds a degree in 3D Glass Design and Craftsmanship, and a PG diploma and MA in Metal Conservation. Her MA placement was with Historic England, working on the Rooswijk project alongside Angela Middleton.
In August 2022 Carola began work as a conservator for MSDS Marine, based at Fort Cumberland, conserving objects recovered from various wreck sites, such as dismantling a chest from the Rooswijk wreck and micro-excavating 100 sabres. Carola has also assessed metal artefacts from terrestrial contexts to prepare them for archive deposition and has most recently started working on developer funded projects.
Carola serves on the ICON EPN committee and is passionate about communicating the value of conservation to non-specialist audiences. She regularly blogs about her work, and posts her projects on Instagram.
- Website:
- caroladelmese.co.uk
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/carola-del-mese/
Angela Middleton
Angela Middleton holds a degree in archaeological conservation from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin and an MSc in Maritime Conservation Science from the University of Portsmouth.
She has worked for the Newport Medieval Ship Project and the Michael Faraday Museum of the Royal Institution before joining Historic England as an Archaeological Conservator in 2007. Here she is responsible to advise on and undertake research and investigative conservation on material retrieved from land and marine sites. She has a special interest in the conservation of waterlogged organic materials. She has been working on material recovered from England’s protected wreck sites, most notably the London and the Rooswijk.
Angela serves on special interest committees and is a trustee for the Leather Conservation Centre.
- Twitter:
- @AngyMiddleton
- LinkedIn:
- https://uk.linkedin.com/in/angela-middleton-652a251a
Gabriella Misuriello
Gabriella is a heritage and construction professional with over 25 years' experience. She qualified as a Building Engineer in Italy, and after an international MSc in European Construction she worked in private practice on several prestigious conservation projects.
In 2000, she joined an architectural practice in Oxford before moving to the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) in 2004. Gabriella has been Head of Conservation at CCT since 2019. In this role she provides strategic management of the conservation team, leading the national repair priorities programme and the delivery of conservation consultancy projects, while ensuring the effective management of CCT’s estate.
Anisha Parmar
Anisha Parmar is jewellery designer, artist, curator and project producer who creates handcrafted jewellery inspired by my lived experience of the South Asian diaspora. Storytelling and narrative are at the heart of her practice, and she sees jewellery as a powerful tool to unlock histories and tell personal stories. Her own work draws heavily from the story of her family migrating from India to East Africa and then to the UK, re-imagining their identity in a foreign land. Stemming from her own family history, She has been fascinated by other diaspora oral histories with links to adornment, identity, decolonisation and reclamation.
- Twitter:
- @anishaparmarldn
- Website:
- www.anishaparmar.com
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/parmaranisha/
Melangell Penrhys
Following an upbringing in Wales in a family fashion and textiles business, Mela has had a career spanning over 20 years in conservation: as a textile conservator both freelance and in museums nationally and internationally as well as teaching secondary school textiles and running education sessions in museums.
She has been a Regional Conservator for the National Trust since 2018 and is currently Project Conservator for Kedleston Hall, Museum Project: working with a colonial collection of Asian artefacts and is seeking to open up the collection to new audiences and bring collaborative and culturally sensitive conservation into caring for the collection.
Phil Pollard
Phil manages Historic England’s strategic approach to employability and skills development for the historic environment sector in order to help nurture a more diverse, socially relevant and resilient sector workforce. He has particular interest in enabling and embedding work based learning into the sector for example, through apprenticeships. He also chairs the Historic Environment Skills Forum, of which Icon is a founding member.
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/philpollard84
Dr Sarah Posey
Dr Posey has worked in museums and heritage for over 30 years. Her experience combines a curatorial background with senior roles in national, regional and independent museums.
She started her career at the British Museum as a specialist curator, where she obtained her PhD in Anthropology. Subsequently she was Head of Collections, Learning & Interpretation at the Royal Pavilion & Museums, and then Director of the River & Rowing Museum.
From 2016 she was a member, and then Chair, of the Accreditation Committee hosted by ACE, until her current appointment in 2021. As Director, Cultural Property, she is the strategic lead on the statutory schemes which ACE delivers on behalf of Government, including Export Licensing, the Government Indemnity Scheme, Acceptance in Lieu and the Cultural Gifts Scheme.
Kirsten Ramsay
Kirsten, a veteran in Ceramics Conservation with over 30 years of experience, began her journey at West Dean College. After completing her studies she worked at The British Museum, gaining valuable experience before founding her successful Conservation business in 1995.
Working with a diverse range of clients, including private individuals, institutions, and the antiques trade, it has been a varied and interesting career.
Her TV appearances on BBC's The Repair Shop have broadened her reach, aiming to inspire a wider audience and encourage younger people to consider conservation as a career choice.
- Website:
- www.sussexceramicrestoration.com
Paul Rash
Paul has been a Flight Test Engineer since 1970, and has participated in flight trials on aircraft from Tiger Moth to Concorde with Rolls Royce at Filton Airfield near Bristol.
In 1983 he moved to British Aerospace at Dunsfold Aerodrome, near Guildford and ran trials on, and flew in, Harrier and Hawk development aircraft including G-HAWK, the subject of this presentation.
As Harrier Safety and Certification Manager, BAE SYSTEMS, delivered the Initial Release for Service Use of the Harrier GR Mk 9.
After retirement, Paul became a volunteer at Brooklands Museum working on Hawker aircraft restoration with a brilliant team of engineers. Now he is the Treasurer for the Hawker Association.
Flavia Ravaioli ACR
Flavia is interested in materials-based research that spans art history, conservation and heritage science. Flavia initiated the research project Global Connections: Islamic Art at the Fitzwilliam Museum, which focuses on two collections: Persian medieval ceramics and casts of the Alhambra Palace in Granada. Prior to joining the Museum in 2017, Flavia worked as a researcher in conservation at UCL, and as an archaeological conservator in Italy and Egypt.
Stephanie de Roemer
Stephanie holds a BSc in Conservation and Restoration of Surface Decorations and an MA in Conservation of Historic Objects.
Trained in Art History and classical Archaeology and conservation and restoration of surface decorations and archaeological artefacts and archaeological sites, Stephanie worked for the Glasgow Museums as conservator for sculpture and Installation Art prior to her role as conservator of objects for the Cambridge University Museums.
A member of the International Council of Museums – Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC), Stephanie currently serves as vice chair on the Directory Board.
Her interest lies in exploring conservation as a shared and communal practice for museums to inspire social and environmentally sustainable development.
Sophie Rowe ACR
Sophie is an object conservator with over 25 years’ experience working in National and University Museums. She first became excited about Antarctic heritage while working at the Polar Museum in Cambridge. In 2017 she went to Antarctica for the first time with United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust to carry out a full inventory and condition survey of artefacts at Base Y, on Horseshoe Island, and hugely enjoyed getting to know the hut and its contents. Sophie returned to Antarctica in 2019-20 and 2023-24, visiting Port Lockroy and Detaille Island, gathering data to inform conservation planning for these amazing sites.
Kerith Koss Schrager
Kerith is responsible for overseeing the physical integrity and preservation policies of the collection. She specializes in occupational health and safety for cultural heritage workers. Previously, she was the owner of The Found Object Art Conservation, LLC providing conservation and preservation services for museums, galleries, and private collectors. Kerith was a Postgraduate Fellow in the Conservation of Museum Collections at the National Museum of Asian Art of the Smithsonian Institution. She was the first Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Objects Conservation and later a project conservator at the Brooklyn Museum from 2008-2012. She is a Professional Associate member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), member and former Chair of their Health & Safety Committee and former Chair of the Conservators in Private Practice (CIPP) Specialty Group.
- Twitter:
- @Sept11Memorial
- Website:
- www.911memorial.org/
Jessica Stitt ACR
Jess leads a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project which is a partnership between the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. The project supports CCT in the development of their commercial activities, focusing on a maintenance service for listed buildings.
The KTP will deliver a strategy and business plan for the expansion of this service, while helping CCT to develop an enterprise culture. Jess trained in conservation at UCL Institute of Archaeology and worked in collection management and preventive conservation at The National Archives before completing a DPhil in Management at Oxford Saïd. She is an Accredited Member of Icon.
Amanda Sutherland
Amanda originally trained in conservation and materials science and has worked as an accredited conservator-restorer throughout her career in the heritage sector. With over 30 years of experience she has worked at the national museums, regional museums, run her own conservation studios and managed heritage engineering conservation workshops. Her key areas of expertise focus on the conservation of industrial heritage, social history collections, large objects and working historic machinery. She comes from a family of mechanical engineers with an interest in aviation and most recently, has been working as Head of Conservation for Brooklands Museum in Weighbridge.
Rebecca Tehrani
Rebecca is a wall painting conservator and research assistant. Graduating in 2018 in the conservation of wall painting and stone, Rebecca gained practical experience in Germany, London, Poland and New Zealand, and has worked on international research projects on Nabatean and Roman wall paintings, and the Daniel Maclise wall paintings in the House of Lords, UK.
She is currently undertaking doctoral research at Dresden University of Fine Arts on mural fragments collections, where she has also taught and organized specialist workshops. Since 2021 she has been part of the ICCROM Heritage Sample Archives Initiative coordination team.
Charles Wellingham
Charlie is a Senior Conservation Architect and founding Director of Connolly Wellingham Architects. Established in 2016, the practice has grown to be nationally regarded for their sensitive contemporary designs in historic, urban and rural environments - with a particular expertise in the adaptation and environmental upgrade of significant and listed buildings. Current and recent clients include the National Trust, The Natural History Museum and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Charlie was awarded a Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) Lethaby Scholarship in 2014, and was elected to join the Architects Accredited in Building Conservation (AABC) conservation register in 2016.
Helen Wilson ACR
Dr Helen Wilson ACR is ‘Sector Development Manager - London and Business archives’ in The National Archives’ (UK) Archive Sector Leadership Department. Prior to starting this role in 2023, Helen worked over 10 years as an Icon-accredited heritage scientist/preventive conservator and Sustainability Lead in The National Archives’ Collection Care Department. As steering group member of Icon’s Sustainability Group and co-Chair of Icon’s Heritage Science Group Helen recently led a project evidencing a sector need to develop sustainability frameworks for heritage science labs and conservation studios. In her current role, Helen is helping to develop Carbon Literacy Training for Archives, Records and Special Collections.
Photo Credit: Simon Curtis
- Twitter:
- @UkNatArcSector
- Website:
- www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/
Daniel Winder
Dan is CEO at Stanley Arts, a grade 2 listed Edwardian masterpiece which has a growing profile as a modern, dynamic, radically inclusive arts venue. Stanley Arts is now a National Portfolio Organisation funded by Art Council England.
Dan is also the chair of the steering group for Croydon's year as London Borough of Culture. Raised in Bolton, Lancashire, Dan has been working in London for the past 20 years. He has a PhD in Physics but in 2006 he graduated as an actor. He has worked as a theatre maker, venue manager, producer, director and writer.
- Twitter:
- @Stanley_Arts
- Website:
- stanleyarts.org/
Hazel Wong
Hazel studied BSc Archaeology with Forensic Science at University of Exeter and is a recent graduate with a Master’s degree in Conservation Practice from Cardiff University. Hazel’s dissertation focused on 3D virtual conservation in which she is particularly interested in exploring new ways to engage with the public in conservation decision-making. Hazel is ambitious and it is a goal of hers to improve the lack of engagement and different voices in the conservation field using modern technologies.
Özge Nur Yıldırım
Özge Nur Yıldırım is a founding member and Vice President of the Conservator-Restorers Association, established in 2021, to improve the working conditions and rights of conservator-restorers in Turkey.
She completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees in the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties department at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University.
She has gained experience working with various materials, including metal, wall paintings, and mosaics, in excavations and laboratories at internationally renowned ancient cities in Turkey. Currently residing in Istanbul, she is engaged in the restoration and conservation of manuscript collections affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
- Twitter:
- @krd_org
- Website:
- www.konservator-restoratorler.org/
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/%C3%B6zge-nur-y%C4%B1ld%C4%B1r%C4%B1m-750589170/