Meet the Committee Members

Joanne is the Chair of the Icon Emerging Professionals Group. She currently works as a Conservator (Collections Care) at Durham University.

She trained in paper conservation having graduated in 2021 from the MA Conservation of Fine Art: Works on Paper course at Northumbria University and went on to undertake a Project Conservation Internship at the University of Edinburgh: Centre for Research Collections. Alongside this, Joanne gained experience volunteering for several years across National Trust sites and Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children's Books

Jamie is the Secretary 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.

Lauren is the Communications Officer of the Icon Emerging Professionals Group. With a background in Fine Art and Fabrication she moved into metal conservation and completed her MSc in Conservation of Contemporary art and Media at UCL which focused on conserving  plastics, time-based media and performance. Her dissertation investigated the degradation of thin film polypropylene under LED light within contemporary artworks. Lauren is currently working as a conservator within private practice in London.

Camella is our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Camella is currently training at English Heritage as a Preventive Conservator. She completed an MA in Principles of Conservation from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, where she was elected student officer for UCL’s disabled students as well as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion representative. Her research focused on exploring decolonial routes to contemporary conservation. Camella also worked as a Collections Manager on a large-scale store move of UCL’s Ethnographic Collections.

Prior to her MA, Camella undertook a 1-year traineeship at The British Museum as a Community Partnerships officer. She was involved in delivering workshops, outreach and public events. Additionally, she assisted in the curation of ‘Desire, love, identity: LGBTQ histories’ exhibition and gallery trail. She received training from curators and conservators to manage the preventive conservation and audit of the department's handling collection, which includes over 600 objects. Working collaboratively with other teams, she provided objects from the collection to be featured in exhibitions.

After her traineeship Camella continued at The British Museum working with the Africa, Oceania and Americas Department on collection care and access. She also started a project with the aim of digitising and documenting Caribbean collections. Her work involved research to update the biographies of these objects and preventive conservation. Camella has worked in various collection care positions at the Science Museum Group, Natural History Museum and at the Royal Geographic Society with Wiley Digital Archives, where she independently managed the recant and documentation of collections and archives. Camella is a strong advocate for equality, she believes cultural heritage should be accessible to all.

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.

Kate is a member of the social media team for the Emerging Professional Group. She has recently graduated her undergraduate degree from the University of Lincoln studying Conservation of Cultural heritage. With three years of conservation experience, specialising in object conservation, Kate has experienced working in laboratory, archival and museum settings with extensive knowledge of practical and preventive conservation as well as experience with analytical testing such as XRF, FTIR and PLM. Her main future career interests lie in historical costume, social history and book conservation. As an emerging professional Kate is passionate about looking to the future of international heritage interests such as decolonisation of museums and providing access to the collective knowledge and collections of the world's heritage sector creating a wider appreciation and understanding of our shared histories.

Anna is a member of the Icon EPG Social Media Team. She graduated from Durham University’s Conservation for Archaeological and Museum Objects Masters programme in 2023. She has since worked as a Conservator with Lancashire Conservation Studios, working on social history and decorative arts objects and also spending ten months working onsite at Rochdale Town Hall conserving its painted decorative ceilings. She is now working as a Conservator at Manchester Science and Industry Museum where she works on a wide variety of scientific and industrial heritage objects, from locomotives to spacesuits.

Margherita is part of the EPG Events Team. She received her master’s degree in Italy at the Conservation and Restoration Center La Venaria Reale, under the University of Turin, specializing in textiles and leather with a dissertation on the study and conservation of an early 20th century female garment. After graduating, she joined the Center of Documentation and Textile Museum in Terrassa as an intern, collaborating with both the head conservator and collection manager. Currently, she is working as a conservation fellow at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, researching reproductions for displaying purposes and wet cleaning methods.

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 the Conservation Training Manager at the British Library’s site in St Pancras, London. Her team devises webinars, placements and workshops in collection care and conservation topics for libraries and archives, primarily for the library’s international library partners and for the Endangered Archives Programme. Prior to the British Library, Zoe worked as the Preventive Conservator 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.