Rebecca A. Kaczkowski is the Preventive Conservator at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI), where she undertakes a variety of projects related to exhibit design, museum environments, the care and storage of collections, and collection care training initiatives. She is also an inaugural member of the Preparedness and Response in Collections Emergencies (PRICE) team, a new initiative launched at the Smithsonian in the fall of 2016 geared toward developing and maintaining a robust collections emergency plan and culture for the Institution. Prior to her current position, Rebecca was engaged with preventive and interventive conservation initiatives at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) as the Samuel H. Kress Fellow and has also documented and treated a wide range of historic artifacts and scientific specimens. Some of her previous internship experiences include the Cleveland Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museums Scotland, and the National Museum of Natural History, as well as an 8-year apprenticeship in gold leaf conservation and restoration with GoldenRhodes LLC in Alexandria, VA. She is a graduate of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation where she focused on objects conservation; she also holds a B.A. in art history and German language & literature and an M.A. in museum studies from The George Washington University.