Meet the Committee Members

Jamie is the Chair of the Icon Emerging Professionals Group and is currently working at Durham University as the Lendrum Intern in Book Conservation. She studied Book and Library Materials Conservation at West Dean College after completing a degree in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Prior to conservation, she has worked at public, academic, and art museum libraries, and during an internship in the Research Library at the Detroit Institute of Arts, her interest in conservation was sparked. Volunteering in the museum’s conservation lab led to a summer position at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, working in the paper conservation laboratory on books, art on paper, and paper objects. Her conservation experience includes a second summer position at the Henry Ford Museum, and a work experience placement at the Winterthur Museum/University of Delaware Program of Art Conservation in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

Rhiannon  is the Treasurer of the Icon Emerging Professionals Group and is currently in her final year of the MA Conservation of Fine Art (Easel Paintings) at Northumbria University. Her primary area of practice is easel paintings conservation, supported by practical experience in the treatment of frames, gilding, and decorative objects.

Alongside her academic training, Rhiannon is President of the Conservation of Fine Art Society at Northumbria and serves as a course representative for her programme. Through these roles, she has gained experience in committee governance, budgeting, event planning, and representing student interests, supporting engagement across year groups and contributing to the smooth running of academic and extracurricular activities.

Rhiannon has completed a number of placements across both museum and private practice settings. These include projects at Brighton Pavilion & Museums and Laing Art Gallery, as well as placements within private conservation studios such as Chritchlow & Kukkonen and Fine Art Restoration Co. These experiences have allowed her to work across a range of conservation contexts, gaining insight into both institutional and commercial approaches to treatment, documentation, and client-facing practice.

Her research interests include the ethics of conservation decision-making and the responsible integration of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, within conservation practice. Rhiannon aspires to enter the private practice sector, building on her technical training, professional experience, and interest in ethically informed treatment strategies.

Sky-Lyn is a part of the EPG Social Media Team. Sky-Lyn currently works at the Victoria and Albert (V&A)  Museum as a Preventive Conservator. Prior to this, she worked as a Conservator at the Science and Industry Museum, and as a Research Fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art, contributing to the EU-funded project GoGreen (https://gogreenconservation.eu/), dedicated to sustainable conservation practices.

She trained at Durham University in their Conservation for Archaeological and Museum Objects program and graduated in 2024. Before this, Sky-Lyn received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Florida International University.

Margherita is an Events Coordinator for Icon EPG. She holds a Master’s Degree from the Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale in Italy, specializing in the conservation of textiles and leather.

Following her studies, she completed an internship at the Centre de Documentació i Museu Tèxtil in Terrassa, Barcelona, followed by a two-year fellowship at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York. She subsequently worked as a Project Textile Conservator at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm.

Over the past year, Margherita has worked with a private conservator in Milan and completed a visiting conservator placement at the Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (CNCPC) in Mexico City. During her time in Mexico, she also taught courses on historical garment pattern taking, mannequinage, leather conservation, and tapestry and carpet weaving techniques. She is currently working with a private conservation laboratory in Paris.

Adela is one of the Events Coordinators in the Icon EPG team. Through her freelance practice, Adela Hawley - Collections Management, she offers services in conservation, curation, collections management, and heritage consultancy, with a particular emphasis on digital innovation and improving accessibility in the cultural sector.

Adela has contributed to a wide range of heritage projects both in the UK and internationally, working with institutions such as Qatar Museums, Manchester Museum, the Museum of Science and Technology in Serbia, The Box in Plymouth, and ProMare. Her work has included preventive conservation, collections management, exhibition design, and the digitisation of maritime artefacts using 3D scanning technology to enhance public access.

She holds an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies and a BA (Hons) in Conservation of Cultural Heritage. You can connect with Adela online through her Linktree.

Adela is interested in blending traditional conservation methods with modern technologies, striving to enhance the sustainability and accessibility of cultural heritage for future generations.

Zoe is one of the Events Coordinators in the Icon EPG team. Zoe works as a Preventive Conservator at the British Library’s site in St Pancras, London. Prior to this Zoe worked as a Conservation Training Manager at the British Library, devising training content on collection care and conservation topics for custodians of library and archive collections. Relatedly, Zoe is passionate in advocating for conservation, encouraging engagement with collection care for diverse audiences, and creating platforms for emerging conservators to develop and showcase their skills.

Zoe has also worked as the Preventive Conservator, and Collection’s Care Trainee, for the UK Parliamentary Archives at the Palace of Westminster. Zoe trained in Conservation of Fine Art on Paper at Northumbria University, graduating from her MA in 2022. Before this, Zoe received a degree in Art History MA (hons) at the University of St Andrews in 2020.

Ellen is EPG’s general member who supports the committee in interim roles as needed and is currently working as an Architectural Paint Researcher/ Conservation Scientist at Hirst Conservation.

Ellen’s journey in heritage started during her MSci Chemistry program at the University of Glasgow and University of Pisa where she specialised in heritage analysis. Following her graduation, Ellen was accepted into Historic England’s Heritage Building Skills Programme, where she trained in Stained Glass Conservation. Ellen is passionate about encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing across the heritage sector, particularly between emerging professionals working in science, conservation and traditional crafts.

Kayleigh is one of the Social Media Officers for Icon EPG. She has just completed her Conservation Practice MSc degree at Cardiff University. Kayleigh works at the Museum of Cardiff and assists in a variety of Conservation and Collection Care tasks.

Before moving into conservation, she worked in museums and archives. While completing her MA in Heritage Management, where she was introduced to the field. While completing her Heritage Management degree, she undertook placements with the Surveyor of the Fabric at Historic Royal Palaces, supporting curation, risk management, and conservation and collection care. She then moved on to work as a Collection Care Supervisor at the National Trust for Scotland.

Morgan is a Social Media Officer for Icon’s Emerging Professionals Group. She recently completed an MSc in Conservation Practice at Cardiff University and volunteers at The D-Day Story Museum in Portsmouth, England. Her interests include collections care, material culture, and the ethical questions that shape conservation practice. Her MSc research analyzed the presence of intangible values in conservation decision-making.

Prior to conservation, Morgan worked in teaching and communications roles in the United States. She brings this experience to the EPG team by helping to share accessible, useful opportunities and resources for students and emerging conservators.

Olivia is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer. Currently in her second year of studying Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Lincoln, she aims to specialise in the conservation of furniture and wooden objects. Her dedication to EDI began through personal experience and grew when leading inclusion projects in Girlguiding. A recent museum placement further developed her interest in how collections can open up valuable conversations with under-represented communities.

Olivia is particularly keen to ensure that the EPG remains an accessible and welcoming place for everyone. She firmly believes that because cultural heritage belongs to us all, the conservation field should reflect that diversity.