Sjoukje G. van der Laan (she/her/us) holds a BA in Art History from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), and a MA and Professional Doctorate in Conservation & Restoration of Cultural Heritage from the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), specializing in modern & contemporary art conservation and restoration. Sjoukje gained experience in the conservation studios of the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D.C.), Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Ghent, Belgium), and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (The Hague, The Netherlands). Over the years, she has worked as a leading conservator in private practice in both Europe and Canada, and is since 2016 also employed at the Art Gallery of Ontario as conservator of contemporary art. Her specialization gives her experience with conserving and restoring a wide variety of (synthetic) materials, objects, paintings, kinetic and electronic art, and complex contemporary art installations. Sjoukje is a strong advocate for the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage, and emphasizes that engagement in our shared heritage allows us to understand and learn from the past while moving into a connected future. 

Brandon trained as a paintings conservator at the Queen's University – Art Conservation Department. He returned to the department to teach imaging and documentation. Brandon has applied his background and skills to a broad range of applications from the conservation of easel paintings, to writing on the history of pigments and artists’ materials and formulating modern artists’ materials.  

Moya Dumville is a Paper Conservator and Risk Analysis Advisor at Protect Heritage, and has served as an instructor at the Fleming College Cultural Heritage Conservation and Management program since 2021. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia and her Master’s Degree in Art Conservation at Queen’s University. She worked as the Lead Paper Conservator at West Lake Conservators, in Skaneateles, NY, and has held positions at the New Brunswick Museum, Library and Archives Canada, and the Northeast Document Conservation Center. She lives in Kingston Ontario, where she is a board member of Heritage Kingston and the Kingston Community Garden and Food Forest. 

Erin Brodie is a materials researcher with experience spanning the engineering, archaeology, and cultural heritage sectors. She holds a PhD in Materials Engineering from Monash University, Australia, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in History and German Studies. Throughout her career, she has worked with a wide range of materials characterisation and processing techniques, investigating materials across the biotechnology, aerospace, humanitarian, energy and recycling sectors. Alongside this technical expertise, her longstanding passion for history has led her to undertake collaborative research with museums, archaeologists and heritage institutions, applying scientific methods to the study of cultural heritage. 

Her research integrates advanced materials characterisation techniques, including X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), microscopy, 3D scanning and printing, mechanical testing, and materials degradation analysis, to investigate both modern materials and archaeological artefacts. Through the application of these methods, she examines material composition, deterioration processes, and historical manufacturing technologies, generating insights that inform conservation practice and support the long-term preservation of cultural heritage. She has led and contributed to interdisciplinary research projects in Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, and Azerbaijan, collaborating closely with museums, heritage institutions, and archaeological teams to advance the preservation, interpretation, and understanding of cultural heritage.