The Conserv team is growing! We’re thrilled to introduce Jane Henderson as our new Community Advisor. You may recognise her as our host for the “Conserv Conversations” programme in the online community.
Jane Henderson (BSc, MSc, PACR, FIIC, FRHisS, Professor of Conservation) is a Plowden Medal–winning global conservation expert. She has worked in education and conservation for over four decades, supporting learners at all levels. She is recognised for advancing equity, social justice and sustainable conservation through her writing on decision-making, emotion, standards and preventive conservation. A sector leader, she has served as a Trustee for Icon and IIC and remains a Trustee of Museums Federation Cymru. She sits on key editorial boards, has edited international special issues, reviews for global journals and funders, and chairs the BSI B/560 standards group, contributing to European and international conservation standards.
Jane’s favourite colour is purple, except when it comes to sport, where she is a die-hard bluebird.
We sat down to chat with Jane to learn a bit more about her interest in helping to build the Conserv Community.
What is your role on the Conserv team?
I am a community board member, which means doing a lot of soundboarding with Conserv team members and service users, as well as being a critical eye for others. I’m an outside advisor, and I try to keep my finger on the pulse when it comes to the needs of the field so that I am able to assist effectively with product direction and content creation. As a UK-based conservator I hope to be able to help Conserv tailor their services to the needs of institutions here.
What drew you to helping out Conserv?
I have been in touch with Conserv over the last few years and have always been impressed by the way they transition people from collecting data to taking action. Purposeless data collection is a problem I have observed throughout my career: from abandoned thermohygrographs to unopened data files. I like that Conserv helps people to understand what they are collecting and how to communicate that into action plans to improve the environment. One of my ambitions will be to support and enhance the already rich bank of resources that Conserv offers to their users and the wider heritage community.
I am also excited that Conserv works across the levels of engagement, from people entering the wonderful world of humidity for the first time to people serious about dew point and entropy.
Where would you like to see Conserv going in the future?
I am a huge champion of smaller museums that don’t have lots of support. I love all the free advice and diagnostic support that Conserv already offers — the more of it the better. I am also really excited about their work to help people regulate air conditioning systems to deliver safe environments for collections with as little energy and environmental impact as possible.
I have also been working with Conserv to host a series of online conversations around interesting and important publications. Although these don’t link directly to sales, they represent the way that Conserv are committed to supporting development in the sector. We meet regularly to discuss a paper and invite the authors to join us as well. The meetings are not recorded and there is plenty of time for learning from each other. I really do believe that part of the impetus to change to more carefully considered environmental parameters will be trust and confidence built by just such informative conversations.
You can find Jane on LinkedIn. “Conserv Conversations” runs in the Conserv Community, which is free to join and open to everyone — come and take part.
