Mission: Through the systematic identification and mitigation of risks, there is a greater potential to steward the bulk of museum collections further into the future.   

Preventive conservation is a nascent conservation specialty, despite being a fundamental principle to cultural preservation globally. Preventive conservation includes deliberate actions to minimize or slow the rate of deterioration and prevent damage to collections. The primary risks to collections include: light, pests, pollutants, incorrect temperature, incorrect relative humidity, physical forces, water, fire, thieves/vandals, and dissociation. As a preventive conservator, the goal is to help identify these risks to collections and strategize efforts to avoid, block, or mitigate them. Often, one of the biggest risks to collections is decision-making that occurs without complete data or understanding, or by only a select group of the collections’ overall stakeholders. Thus, a large part of the preventive conservator’s role is to facilitate dialogue between stakeholders, monitor collections for risks, and influence and empower decision-makers based on data analysis. 

Current Focus: Environmental Management: Understanding Temperature, Relative Humidity, Pollutants and their Effects on Long-Term Collection Care 

 

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