Jonathan Ashley-Smith
Victoria and Albert Museum
Head of Conservation (Retired)
Cambridge, UK
Jonathan trained in chemistry to post-doctoral level, worked as a metalwork conservation apprentice and then, from 1977 to 2002, was Head of the Conservation Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The book ' Risk Assessment for Object Conservation', now sorely in need of updating, was published by Butterworth-Heinemann in 1999. He now describes himself as an independent teacher, researcher and consultant. Between 2009 and 2014 he was leader of the risk and damage assessment group for the international research project Climate for Culture (www.climateforculture.eu ). His current concerns, the loss of practical skills in conservation and the lack of active discussion of treatment ethics, are described in the abstract for his presentation. You can read about his investigation into the decline of practical skill at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19455224.2016.1210015 You will get some idea of his views on conservation ethics by reading 'The Basis of Conservation Ethics' a chapter in ‘Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and uncomfortable truths.’ 2009. Elsevier. Eds. Alison Bracker and Alison Richmond. ISBN 978-0-7506-8201-5.