Background
Fiona is Group Conservation Scientist for the Science Museum Group, primarily focused on the UKRI-funded RICHeS 'Empowering Safety: Hazard Awareness, Identification and Management' project. She is currently a Visiting Fellow in 星空体育官网 Forensic Institute, having previously been Lecturer in Applied Analytical Techniques and, more recently, Reader in Analytical & Archaeological Science.
While at 星空体育官网, Fiona's research interests (and MSc/PhD supervision topics) were diverse, but primarily focused on the application of analytical techniques to archaeological and forensic sciences, in particular relating to the preservation of organic materials (e.g. bone collagen, wood, charcoal, leather and parchment) in the archaeological record. She also worked with museums and conservators on a wide range of topics, including investigating the composition, provenance and/or manufacture of cultural heritage artefacts, identifying unknown conservation treatments, and micro-CT scanning objects. In particular, she collaborated with the conservation team at the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) to address a variety of issues including Deathwatch Beetle activity on HMS Victory.
Fiona graduated with a degree in chemistry from the University of Manchester before undertaking her PhD and post-doctoral research in biogeochemistry at the Universities of Bristol and Cardiff. She then joined the Research Laboratory for Archaeology at Oxford University, where she developed her interests in archaeological sciences whilst working as the radiocarbon dating laboratory chemist.
