Marsh Charitable Trust – Marsh Award for Innovation in Conservation

Marsh Award for Innovation in Conservation

This award recognises individual, department or organisation-led innovation in conservation practice, research or training. Innovation can take any form but should demonstrate new ways of thinking or working that are moving the practice of conservation forward.

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Chelsea McKibbin 2025

Chelsea McKibbin, Senior Conservator, Natural History Museum

Chelsea has revolutionised wet specimen conservation by introducing Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) as a non-invasive method for analysing preservation fluids. This technique allows fluid composition to be determined through sealed glass containers, eliminating the risks of evaporation, contamination, and specimen damage associated with opening jars. Her work replaces previously empirical and inconsistent practices with a rigorous, ethical, and scientifically robust approach. At the Natural History Museum (NHM), this innovation has enabled conservators to assess thousands of specimens more accurately and efficiently, prioritising treatment and reducing health and safety risks. It has also deepened understanding of historic preservation methods and set a new benchmark for preventive conservation, safeguarding fragile collections for the long term.

Chelsea collaborated with NHM colleagues and experts at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories and Agilent, resulting in two peer-reviewed papers. Her work has prompted internal reflection on handling practices and aligns with Icon’s values of integrity and collaboration. More broadly, it offers museums worldwide a practical, data-driven framework for managing wet specimens, marking a shift from reactive to proactive care. Chelsea’s pioneering use of SORS ensures the continued integrity of irreplaceable collections and represents a significant advancement in conservation practice across the sector.

Previous Winners

Industrial Museums Scotland

The ‘Powering Our People’ project was designed to address the gap in heritage conservation skills and knowledge in Scotland’s industrial museums through a programme of targeted skills development training courses and the creation of a conservation internship. 15 museums joined the project, creating a dynamic conservation legacy which will secure the future of these collections and the protection of them. Industrial conservation specialists designed hands-on training workshops that responded to the technical nature of items within these collections, including the conservation of intricate engines. These workshops have created a resource of trained and empowered museum staff and volunteers who feel confident to protect these collections for years to come and have also encouraged new staff members to engage with conservation as soon as they join their museum. The project also created a conservation internship across the 15 sites, allowing an early-career conservator the opportunity to gain experience on a wide variety of collections. This also helped to improve public awareness of conservation at the museums as the intern documented their experiences online. This innovative collaboration across a varied range of collections is the first of its kind and has created a model of how to bridge gaps in conservation knowledge.