Kristie Short-Traxler

Kristie is an objects conservator and preventive conservation specialist with more than 20 years of conservation and collection care experience in Museums, Libraries and Archives.  She gained undergraduate degrees in chemistry, art and history in the United States and studied a double MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums at the Institute of Archaeology in London. She has worked in the US, UK and Aotearoa across a wide variety of institutions, collections and projects. She currently runs a private treatment, training and consultancy business for heritage conservation and collection care.

Kristie is passionate about giving back to the profession and serves in a voluntary capacity as a Mentor and a CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Reader for the Institute of Conservation (ICON) in the UK where she has been accredited since 2010. She is also a member of AIC, AICCM and IIC. She been a member of NZCCM since 2017; serving as Vice President and Chair of the Membership Committee from 2019-2022.

In the role of President she is keen to expand the work that NZCCM does to support and promote its members and the profession of Conservation across Aotearoa New Zealand and the surrounding regions.

Vice President

Emily Fryer

Emily Fryer is an objects conservator currently working at Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. She has a Masters in the Conservation of Historic Objects from Durham University and a degree in Geology. Emily has worked in conservation for over 20 years both in institutions and privately through her own business on large conservation projects in Christchurch including many related to earthquake recovery. She has also worked as an objects conservator for the Tate Gallery in London and the Antarctic Heritage Trust in Antarctica. Her current research interests are canned food preservation and adhesive methods for temporary earthquake display restraint. 

Emily has been a member of the New Zealand Conservators of Cultural Materials for over 15  years and has served a number of years as Canterbury Rep and recently on Membership committee.  She is excited to take on this new role and looks forward to supporting NZCCM members.  

Staphany Cheng

Staphany Cheng is a textile conservator currently based at Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Auckland War Memorial Museum. She completed her MPhil in Textile Conservation, at the Center of Textile Conservation and Technical Art History at the University of Glasgow. Since then, she has had the opportunity to work in the United States, Aotearoa and Taiwan.

Staphany has over seven years of experience working in conservation, collection care, collection management, art preparation/installation and visitor engagement. She has focused specifically on textiles and has worked with contemporary art, East Asian dress and textiles, upholstery and European dress and textiles. She also has some experience working with organic materials (leather, feathers and barkcloth), and libraries and archives.  After being overseas for the last 4 and a half years, she is looking forward to being a part of the conservation community in Aotearoa.   

Kate Blair

Kate is Kaitiaki Taonga Conservator Textiles at the National Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Kate has a BSc majoring in textile science from the University of Otago and an MPhil in textile conservation from the University of Glasgow.

She has been a full NZCCM member since graduating in 2013, and has been practicing conservation in New Zealand since 2016. Kate likes spreadsheets and gardening in her spare time.

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Newsletter Editor

Lisa Imamura

Lisa grew up in Southeast Alaska, studied geology in Upstate New York and Christchurch, and studied objects conservation in Canada. She holds a Master of Art Conservation degree from Queen's University. Lisa has enjoyed working in a variety of settings in the United States, Canada, and Aotearoa, including an academic archaeology department, a regional conservation centre, and museums small to very large. Lisa lives in Invercargill.