Water Risks to Collections: Assessment and Mitigation
Water emergencies such as floods, leaks, and severe storms pose serious risks to cultural collections—but the level of risk varies by institution. Effective protection begins with identifying hazards both in your region and within your building. This webinar will guide museums, libraries, and archives in assessing their specific water vulnerabilities using publicly available maps and hazard assessment tools. Participants will also learn about current mitigation strategies, including early leak detection technologies.
The event will close with the launch of AICCM’s 2026 Disaster Preparedness calendar. This calendar is funded through the generous support of Blue Shield Australia, International Art Services, Archival Survival and Museums and Galleries NSW.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OSP1DUg2TG-3G81GbTbrZw
Date: Monday 13th October 2025
Time: 3:00-4:00pm
Event Host: Sarah-Jane Rennie, AICCM Disaster Preparedness Committee Chair, with an introduction from AICCM President Samantha Hamilton and Ania Korba, Chair of Blue Shield Australia.
Speaker Profiles:
Madeline (Maddie) Cooper (she/her) is the owner and Principal Preventive Conservator at M.C. Conservation Services. Maddie has extensive experience in surveys, assessments, and teaching. She was the Associate Preventive Conservator at the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts from 2021-2025 where she completed assessments, developed and taught workshops, and project managed initiatives like Preservation Services in Puerto. Maddie has over 10 years of professional collections care experience. She held roles in conservation and collections at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and the Wolfsonian-FIU prior to specializing in preventive conservation in graduate school. Through her graduate career, she worked with the Disaster Research Center, the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and the Midwest Art Conservation Center. Maddie holds an MS in Art Conservation from the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, a BA in Chemistry from the University of Delaware, and a BA in Art Conservation with a minor in Art History from the University of Delaware.
Melissa King is a preventive conservator and the VP of Customer Experience for Conserv, a company that provides IPM and environmental monitoring equipment and software to conservators and collections professionals. She is a graduate of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation where she held graduate fellowships at English Heritage, the Smithsonian, and the Brooklyn Museum. She has a special interest in working with contemporary artists, visualization of environmental data, and enjoys learning about biodeterioration and ways to prevent it.