FRAN RITCHIE is an objects conservator who specializes in natural science materials and historic artifacts. Prior to her current position at the National Park Service Harpers Ferry Center, she worked in the Natural Science Collections Conservation Lab and the Anthropology Objects Conservation Lab at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Fran holds an MA in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University, and an MA and CAS in Art Conservation from SUNY Buffalo State. She is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation and member of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections.