Our Committee

My areas of interest included involvement of volunteers in conservation, archaeological archive standards and display case materials. I am a Fellow of IIC and before retirement I was an assessor for PACR and an Honorary Research Fellow, University College London. Through these roles and my years at the Museum, I feel privileged to have been involved in the training of archaeological conservators from many conservation programmes. My main project for Icon AG is working towards the publication of the next edition of First Aid for Finds.

After a decade or so working in a variety of national museums and for commercial archaeology units I started a private practice based in York. I now provide conservation work to churches, to museums without conservation staff, to local authorities, and I do a bit of teaching as well! I love the varied nature of conservation. I’ve been part of the ICON Archaeology Group committee since 2013 and am currently Vice Chair.

I am also an archaeologist and I work each year as the Finds Manager and Conservation Consultant for the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project; a research excavation in Scotland.  My current post focuses more on preventive conservation and project management as I am the Assistant Project Conservator for the Restoration and Renewal project at the Houses of Parliament.  In this role I will help coordinate the decant and care of heritage items from the Palace of Westminster.

I have worked as an archaeological conservator at the Museum of London for two years. I specialise in the conservation of waterlogged organics and the display of archaeological materials in non-museum environments.

Following graduation I worked briefly at the Royal Armouries Museum before taking up a position teaching the practical elements of conservation at Durham University. I have been fortunate to work on a range of interesting objects and materials throughout my career and I am currently working towards Icon accreditation.

Since becoming a conservator, I have held contract posts at the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the conservation division of the Church of England and Birmingham Museums Trust. I have also worked as a freelancer on investigative archaeological projects in the UK and abroad, and for museums and institutions. 

Over the last five years I have been lucky enough to work on a number of interesting projects both locally and further afield, which have allowed me to pursue my interest in the conservation of organic objects and the process of freeze-drying. I am currently working toward Icon accreditation.

In a former life I gained a BA (Hons) in ceramics and worked as a studio potter and a violin teacher in Devon, before completing the MA Conservation of Historic Objects at the University of Lincoln in 2007.  I became accredited in 2011 and have since completed an MA in Regional and Local History and Archaeology, graduating with distinction in 2015.  My interests are archaeological, ceramic and natural science conservation and I enjoy combining all these and more through work.

I have just begun a Postgraduate Textile Conservation Internship at the Abegg-Stiftung, Switzerland. I am particularly interested in the analysis and conservation of archaeological textiles, which I hope to pursue throughout my career. I am also interested in increasing diversity within conservation, having previously worked in Widening Participation at the University of Cambridge. 

I like to get involved with site conservation abroad and have attended excavations/heritage sites in Orkney, Turkey, Jordan, Turkmenistan and Azerbeijan, as well as sites closer to home. I am an associate member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and currently serve as Secretary for the Finds Special Interest Group. I am CIfA Finds Group Representative for the Archaeology Group. In 2021-22 I will be on sabbatical from YAT and on a year-long contract in Oslo at the Museum of Cultural History.