User:Hialten

I am Helen Alten, Director of Northern States Conservation Center. I started as a student intern in conservation Christmas 1980 and never looked back. My undergraduate major is Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College. I minored in Chemistry. I have a degree in Archaeological Conservation and Materials Science from the Institute of Archaeology, University of London. I built the laboratory at the Montana Historical Society and spent three years preparing material for their permanent Centennial exhibit. Then I spent 6 years as the only conservator in Alaska, working for the Alaska State Museum in Juneau and traveling throughout the state doing treatments and assessments and workshops. My outreach work there brought me to the Upper Midwest Conservation Association in Minneapolis where I founded their field services department and promoted the gospels of conservation and preservation throughout Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Illinois. Since 1997 I have owned and operated Northern States Conservation Center. We work throughout the United States on object treatments, staff training, regional workshops and, most recently, operate www.museumclasses.org an online training site for museum staff.