Irene Finkelde

Irene Finkelde is currently employed at the Australian Museum as a Conservator working on a CAPEX project to assess and rehouse dry type specimens. In this role she works with another team member to assess, condition report, photograph, and rehouse type specimens in conservation grade materials, which aids in ensuring the longevity and accessibility of these valuable collections.

Irene has completed degrees in objects conservation, audiovisual archiving, fine arts and photography. Irene graduated from Melbourne University with a Masters of Cultural Materials Conservation in 2017. In 2018 she completed a Postgraduate Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, where she researched fluid preserved specimens, their chemistry and methods to test the fluid. This research has been presented at international conferences and will shortly be published in SPNHC Collection Forum.

Since returning to Australia, Irene has worked at Melbourne University as a Research Assistant in plastics conservation on the PolyMuse Project, and also as an Assistant Conservator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, assessing collection objects in preparation for a collection move.

Irene has developed many professional skills in conservation and analysis of materials through her jobs, volunteer roles and short courses. She has served on the committees of conservation organisations, including AICCM and ICOM-CC.

Irene approaches conservation holistically, with a comprehension of the roles that preventive conservation, research and analysis, treatments and adherence to ethical standards play in the long-term conservation of museum collections. Irene’s research interests focus on the conservation of natural science collections; conservation of plastics; identification of potential hazards within collections; and preventive conservation.

• Masters of Cultural Materials Conservation, 2017, University of Melbourne.
• Graduate Certificate in Audiovisual Archiving, 2013, Charles Sturt University.
• Bachelor of Fine Arts (Specialising in Photography and New Media Art), 2010, Victorian College of the Arts/University of Melbourne.
• Diploma of Arts (Applied Photography), 2007, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE.

• 2018 Smithsonian Institution Postgraduate Fellowship in Conservation of Museum Collections

• 2019 Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Christine Allen Travel Grant to attend annual meeting in Chicago
• 2017 Recipient of the International Museum and Collections Award, University of Melbourne
• 2016 Faculty of Arts Graduate Internship Grant, University of Melbourne
• 2016 Melbourne Global Scholars Award, University of Melbourne